


Lily Evans and the Werewolf's Secret

by FeBee



Series: Lily Evans [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bullying, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Everyone Has Issues, Family Issues, Gen, Implied/threatened corporal punishment., Lily is a good friend, Lily keeps Remus' secret, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Remus is not, Second year, Sirius is a little shit, Sometimes you have to break them down in order to build them up, The Marauders are little shits, The Slytherins are stereotypically horrible, This is all about Character Development
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 00:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 62,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18954436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeBee/pseuds/FeBee
Summary: It's the start of Second year for Lily and the Boys and Lily knows Remus secret. Should she tell? With the way the Gryffindor boys are acting do they deserve to know?Lily Evans and the Marauders comes first but there are only a few references so it's not necessary to read first.





	1. Summer Holidays

**Author's Note:**

> This story contains a basis for character building. I am a firm believer (as a victim of bullying) that if James had been as much of bully as some stories claim then Lily would never have married him. Therefore either he wasn't that bad or at some point he must have gone through events that changed his behaviour significantly. So each of the main characters in this story will develop towards in a way that should lead them at the end to be as they are implied to be in JK Rowlings works. Well that's the aim anyway.
> 
> A lot of what Lily goes through is based on my own experiences and feelings (apart from the magic bit ob-viously).

 

Chapter 1

 

**12 Grimmauld Place**

The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was in turmoil. For a daughter of their pure descent to abscond with a Mudblood, was a filthy smudge on their impeccable reputation, which had already been tarnished by the fact that the Black heir had been placed in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.When the news that Andromeda had eloped with Ted Tonks had broken, Walburga Black had gone on a violent rampage, nearly burning down the house when she blasted Andromeda’s name off of the family tree. The scorch marks on the walls would likely never fade.

Ignoring his wife’s tantrum, the master of the house, Orion Black, frowned. With a furrowed brow, the wheels in his mind whirred as he schemed. The situation with Andromeda was irreparable but Walburga had solved that problem by breaking the magic that linked their niece to the family. Which left Sirius, Orion had deliberated over what action he should take with regards to his son for many hours as he stared at the fresh burn mark on the family tapestry, Walburga was all for burning Sirius from the tapestry too.There was no chance to have Sirius resorted- Orion had written to Dumbledore the previous September to make that request and had been informed that all decisions made by the sorting hat were final and not open to negotiation. The headmaster had been inflexible even after he had sent a howler threatening the man with all manner of curses if he did not comply, his fury was only met with stony silence.Still something might be able to be salvaged from the situation; Orion finally made his decision and put down the firewhiskey he had been nursing. He would forego the promised whipping in favour of this new plan. Standing he called his eldest son to a meeting.

“Sirius, you will join me in the parlour,” his thundering voice commanded.

Sirius’ heart leapt to his throat in trepidation at the sound of his father’s call. He walked down the stairs and into the parlour standing with his hands behind his back and eyes trained on the floor as he had been taught. As his father stood and came to his side, Sirius’ muscles twitched in his attempt not to flinch in some sort of sick anticipation of his punishment for being placed in Gryffindor.

“Now son, what did I say would happen if you were not sorted into Slytherin?”

“You said I would be caned Sir,” Sirius drew a tight breath in and prepared to brace, but the expected blow didn’t come. Sirius dared to lift his eyes from the floor, to see his father staring at the family tapestry a thoughtful expression upon his face, tapping his wand against the palm of his left hand.

“Well, I feel perhaps we may be able to turn the situation to our advantage instead. Perhaps the best place for a Slytherin to hide is in Gryffindor, a snake in lions clothing,” Orion nodded to himself.

Sirius’ eyes opened wide in shock as his Father continued.

“You have friends in Gryffindor?”

“Yes Sir,” the boy nodded, nervous now and straining not to shuffle his feet.

“Yes, of course you do,” Orion’s voice was soft and sinister. “The Noble House of Black is well respected, it would have been a severe disappointment if you hadn’t made such connections. Tell me who your closest friends are?”

“James Potter and Peter Pettigrew,” Sirius breathed, hesitating slightly before deciding not to mention Remus, who he knew to be a half blood.

“Good, that’s very good,” the oily voice continued as Sirius returned his eyes to the floor. “Both purebloods,” Orion rubbed his hands together. “Your task will be to align them to our way of thinking.”

“Oh,” replied Sirius as he began to understand what was being asked of him. Realising he was being presented with both an opportunity to escape his father’s wrath and to gain approval for the pre-arranged visit to James’, Sirius asked, “Father, James mentioned on the train that he might invite me round for part of the summer, would I be permitted to go?”

Orion considered this development to be a fortuitous start to their endeavour and quickly granted his approval. It seemed that the situation caused by the errant sorting could be rectified after all. A change was in the breeze that summer; he stood to gain greatly should the Blacks be responsible for converting two more houses to the purist’s political views, especially the Potters, who had been known to be neutral for many generations. In the meantime, Sirius was simply elated that he would be able to escape from Grimmauld place for at least part of the holidays.

 

**Nanna Anne**

In a small downstairs bedroom in Cokeworth, a little old lady with grey hair sat in her rocking chair, humming merrily as she knitted. For decades, she had kept a secret from the rest of her family, but this last year had brought a significant development. Her youngest granddaughter Lily had received a very mysterious letter and had disappeared off to Scotland to what she had been informed was boarding school. She chuckled to herself, ‘boarding school’ as if her son would send one of his daughters away for an education and not the other. No, she knew where Lily had gone and because of this she had decided that it was time to come forward. A footfall sounded outside of her door.

On instinct she called out, “Lily!”

Her red-haired granddaughter rounded the corner from the kitchen and entered the room.

“What can I do for you Nanna? Would you like a cup of tea?” Her smiling face seemed to brighten the room.

“No love, I want to talk to you.” She smiled at her granddaughter, it was true that they weren’t much alike in looks, however Lily reminded her of her most beloved aunt. Perhaps that was why Lily was her favourite. Anne knew that her life was coming to an end, and that it was best to share her aunt’s tale face to face.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” Lily perched on the edge of the bed.

“Well I wanted to start by talking to you about your hair.”

“My hair?” Lily tilted her head in confusion at this unexpected topic.

“Yes dear,” her grandmother replied. “When you came back from school it was blue, but it only lasted a few days, and I know you didn’t have Tuney dye it!”

“Oh that! It was a temporary thing, it washed out,” Lily tried to explain. Professor McGonagall had stressed that no one outside of the immediate family should be told about magic, so Lily wasn’t sure what her dad had told his mum. She sighed and reminded herself to check with her dad later.

“No love,” the old woman shook her head, eyes twinkling in amusement and continued “I don’t think that’s the truth is it? There is a box under my bed, could you fetch it please?”

Lily obediently knelt on the floor by the bed, lifted the coverlet and reached underneath. Tucked way up near the head old the bed was an old wooden chest, ducking under the bed she grabbed it and pulled it towards herself. As she picked it up, she noticed it was suspiciously light. She placed it on Nanna Anne’s lap.

“Now, pull up a chair love,” Lily did as she was bid.

“I would like to tell you the story of my Aunt Rose.” Nanna Anne’s voice was soft, forcing Lily to lean close to be able to hear.“Well truth be told her name was actually Hyacinth Rose O’Connell, but she hated the name Hyacinth, my Dad, her brother, he was the baby of the family, used to call her Cynthy and apparently she used to hex him all sorts of colours for it,” the old woman gave a chuckle as Lily froze in surprise. The look on her face was priceless!

“Wait, she what!”

“She used to HEX him all sorts of colours.” Anne emphasized the word a smile on her lips.

“Nanna…what are you saying?” Lily was sure she had misunderstood.

“I’m saying my Aunt Rose was a witch, dear and so are you,” Nanna Anne poked Lily’s hand with her index finger for emphasis.

Lily sat quietly for a moment as she absorbed this. Finally, she asked, “How did you know?”

Anne laughed “Oh love, it is very obvious, you have been doing magic ever since you were small. I remember holding you as a baby, in the middle of winter, your parents had forgotten to put the heating on and you were as warm as toast. They thought you were sick and had you up to the doctor five times just to be sure.”

“A number of times I would watch you sleep and your little bear, you remember your little bear? Well it would be pushed to the other end of the cot and two minutes later I would look, and that little bear would be snuggled right up under your arm. Oh and the things you did with flowers. Lots of little things love. It’s who you are, you can’t hide it!”

“Wow,” Lily was slack-jawed as she absorbed her nan’s words. “So much for the Statute of Secrecy.”

“Yes well, I won’t tell anyone dear, but I think it is time I told you about Aunty Rose.” She opened the lid of the box and searched inside. “Here she is,” she passed Lily a wrinkled black and white photo “She died nine months before you were born you know, she would have been 90 this year. When she passed she left me this chest, and a note, here I’ll let you read it.”

 

_Dear Annie,_

_I’m leaving you my box of tricks. I have had a dream in which a child approaches me, and she takes this little trunk from me. You will recognise the child for what she is, she is just like me. Tell her all the old stories and when the time feels right, give the box to her, you’ll know when._

_Love_

_Rose._

 

“You think I’m the child, Nanna?”

“I know you are dear. Before she passed away, she told me that she felt a darkness approaching the world, and that the things she had hidden in the box would help to defeat it. All of her predictions used to come true I don’t see why this one would be any different.”

“Do you think I am ready for the box yet?”

“No love, I am just letting you know it is here, so it won’t be a surprise, I also think that it may come to you sooner than expected and I might not get to give it to you,” she smiled a little sadly, lending a deeper meaning to her words.

“Don’t say that Nanna!” Lily reached out to clasp the old women’s hand. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of her beloved Nanna passing on.

“Love I can feel it, death isn’t anything to worry about. To be honest, I have worn this body for a long time now and I am rather looking forward to trying something new.”

Lily considered this odd statement, before being distracted by the chest.

“Can we have a little look in it now?”

“Well I will pull a few things out for you.Here, I know you have something like this,” she reached into the chest and pulled out a long stick of dark wood.

“May I hold it? It’s very beautiful,” Lily’s voice was soft as she gazed at the intricately carved wand. She wondered if she took it to Mr Ollivander if he would be able to tell her what the core was.

“Indeed it is. To me it is merely a decorative stick,” she laughed as she passed the wand over. It felt warm and familiar in Lily’s hands and she thought that it just might respond nearly as well as her own, but she knew she couldn’t test it here.

“You want to try it out,” her Grandma commented, looking at her knowingly.

“I do but, I know I can’t, we aren’t allowed to do magic out of school until we turn seventeen,” Lily admitted reluctantly.

“Ah. Rose was years older than I, so by the time I remember seeing her do magic she was well over seventeen. Let me tell you a little about her.” Anne took a deep breath and glanced at Lily.

“I seem to remember her saying that her first magic had something to do with flowers. She studied at Hogwarts where she met the love of her life Willoughby Peverell, they were inseparable by the time they left school. She bought him home and introduced him to the family. My dad thought he was brilliant; apparently, he was quite the joker. Hardly a dinner went by without him changing the colour of someone at the table. They became engaged when they turned twenty and married soon after. She studied and became a healer, while he worked for, what I believe to be, the magical police.”

“A time came when a wizard, who had gone bad, came to power and was terrorizing Europe. Rose had a vision of Will dying in a battle with the man, Grindelwald, I believe his name was. Despite this when the call came Will went. After his death, she came home to the family and she never loved again. Her brothers protected her fiercely, hating to see the pain she had suffered, blaming magic for taking her away in the first place. To keep the peace, she rarely used her gift after that, except as a way to entertain her nieces and nephews, when the others were out of sight. I was always her favourite and as we grew older she would tell me stories of the things she had gotten up to at school. Wild she was! Here look at this photo; it always fascinated me, it moves you see.”

Reluctantly passing the wand back, Lily looked at the black and white photo of a young girl with long hair that kicked out at the ends, diving into the Black lake. She smiled looking at the beech tree in the background; it had stood there so long. A figure walking through the background caught her eye. She blinked, and he was gone, but she could have sworn that if the boy had a long beard and longer hair that it could have been Albus Dumbledore!

What else was in that chest?

They sifted through more photos and Lily marvelled at how little change had occurred at Hogwarts since that time. Knowing that a member of her family had been there before, made the school seem friendlier and less daunting then it had been. 

“Where were you off to when I called you in child?”

“Oh, I had been going to see Kathy, but I can see her tomorrow, I would really like to hear some more.”

“It’s alright dear I’m getting a bit tired now, I’ll tell you more stories tomorrow.” The old woman patted her hand gently before shooing her away, “Off you go now; I’ll tell your Mother where you’ve gone.”

“Thanks Nanna,” Lily said as she passed through the doorway. She ran up the street and round the corner to Kathy’s place. Her knock was answered by Chris.

“Hi Chris is Kathy in?” Lily couldn’t help bouncing on her toes, it had been so long since she had seen her friend.

“She’s upstairs Lil, tell her to come down and we can all go for a walk by the river,” he grinned at her antics.

“Will do,” she called as she raced through the house to Kathy’s room. Five minutes later they were walking out of the door.

“Hey we might see Sev down by the river; I haven’t seen him yet these holidays,” Lily was still bubbling with excitement.

“Is that that skinny bloke from Spinners End with the big bat cape?” Chris asked flatly.

“Um, yeah, why?” Lily couldn’t understand his sudden lack of enthusiasm.

“Sorry Lil, I just get a bad feeling about him, that’s all.”

“Well he has been a good friend to me,” she replied stoutly.

“Has he? Well alright then, if we see him, we can all go together” Chris agreed easily enough, and they strolled down the street chatting happily.

 

 

**Potter Manor**

“Mum! Mum!” James yelled out as he ran through the house. “I’ve had a letter from Sirius he can come and stay!”

Euphemia smiled at her son, as she looked up to see him sprinting through the house into the kitchen, waving a sheet of parchment madly. He stopped to grab a biscuit from a container on the table.

“What did you say his last name was?”

“Black.”

Fleamont Potter spat out his mouthful of tea in surprise.

“Um, Black you say, I’m not sure, if we want him to come here, son,” his tone was cautious.

“Now Monty there is no need to go judging him by his parents,” Euphemia’s voice was firm.

“Mia. The Blacks are bad, through and through. They’re purists through and through, you know what Dorea says and…”

She cut him off “And he is a twelve-year-old boy! So give him a chance. And since you mentioned her think of Dorea as an example, she’s your sister-in-law for goodness sake.”

“She’s an exception!” her husband argued.

“And he might be too!” his wife glared at him.

James held his breath as he watched the debate before interrupting “What’s a purist Dad?”

His father sighed “They are a group of wizards and witches who believe that Pureblooded witches and wizards, and by this they mean those who have only ever married other witches and wizards are far superior than any other. And that the further back they can trace their history the better.And in the case of the Black family they will only consider marrying their children off to another family within the sacred twenty-eight. It is just rumour but I have heard that your friend is to be betrothed to Sylvia Nott when they turn fifteen.”

“Ew getting married at fifteen! Dad that’s gross!” he screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue and faux-retched as if he had eaten something awful.

Monty laughed “Not married son betrothed, a promise between the families that they will marry one day, though knowing that family, it will probably be the minute they graduate, like Bellatrix and Rodolphus. Glad we missed that wedding,” he shuddered.

“Ah Dad?”

“Yes,”

“How do you feel about blood purity?”

“Load of codswallop!” his father huffed.

“Language Monty!” Mia remonstrated, giving him a gentle slap on the arm.

Monty looked at his wife, smiling sheepishly as he shook his head. “Well it is! Having muggle parents makes no difference to how good a person is or how strong a witch or wizard is. Remember Rose, our supervisor at Mungos?”

“Of course, she was my mentor.”

“Muggle-born, never saw anyone better at diagnosing and treating. Had been working 30 years when she took us on and weren’t we trouble,” he reminisced.

“So then, logically having purist parents shouldn’t matter either right?” James looked slyly up at his Dad.

Monty sighed in defeat “You and your Mother are right, of course it doesn’t. Maybe we can influence Sirius to a more open point of view.”

Hesitantly James then asked, “And Dad, what do you guys believe about betrothals?” the boy looked petrified at the very thought and his parents burst out laughing.

“We believe,” Monty began. Mia giggled, when James’ mouth fell open in shock, surely they weren’t lining him up for marriage!

“We believe,” his Father began again, giving Mia a pseudo-stern look as she tried to regain her composure, “that you should follow your heart, don’t worry we aren’t arranging a betrothal for you.”

“Not that we haven’t been asked a dozen times already, mind you,” his Mother finished between her laughs.

“Mum!”

“Well you, like Sirius are the Heir to a pureblood house, even if we aren’t one of the Sacred 28, and you both are single young men, who are not unattractive to girls, unless there is something you would like to tell us?” she grinned at him.

“Eww Mum, girls are gross, all they’re worried about is their hair and stuff and they never have any fun!”

“Well I am sure that will change. Never mind dear, when will we see Sirius?”

And with that conversation turned to planning the upcoming visit.


	2. Diagon Alley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanna Anne has been keeping secrets. Shopping in Diagon Alley. Fleamont Potter notices someone familiar.

Chapter 2

 

As September approached, Lily reflected on her summer and summarised it in one word: work. She hadn’t been able to nab the sought after paper run, however being known as highly reliable had some advantages, Lily had managed to get multiple baby-sitting jobs and had been asked to look after a few of her neighbour’s pets while they were away on holidays. Over the nine weeks she had saved twelve pounds, which she intended to add to her vault when she went to Diagon Alley to buy her school supplies.

“Lily,” an aged voice rang through the house.

“Coming Nanna,” Lily sang out in acknowledgement.

Lily entered the kitchen and smiled at the old woman seated at the kitchen table.

“What do you need Nanna?”

“It’s not what I need; it is what I need to give you.”

“Oh, what is that?” Lily asked. Oh how that one sentence had snagged her interest, she hurriedly pulled out a chair, hastily sat down and began drumming her fingers on the table.Maybe Nanna Anne was going to give her the box of tricks, in time for the new school year. Nanna’s handbag was resting on the table and the grey-haired woman reached into it before pulling out an envelope and passing it to Lily. Lily’s fingers ceased their tattoo.

“There you are love, open it up, go on,” her grandmother encouraged, smiling slightly as the child’s excited twitches stopped.

There was a hard lump in the envelope, tearing it open she discovered a small bronze key and a piece of parchment. Lily looked curiously up at her grandmother.

“Nanna, this is a Gringotts key! That’s the wizards bank.”

“Yes dear it was Rose’s, the paper is the legal document leaving the contents of her vault to her heir. Though of course because I am not a witch, I can’t access it. I have asked your mum and dad if I can take you in to get your books this year, so we can transfer it over to you, if that is alright?”

“But Nanna, I can take it out and you can just get the money exchanged into pounds.”

“Aunt Rose only left it to me, so I could pass it on to the next magical person in our family.”

“Are you sure?” Lily frowned.

“Of course Love and I don’t even know if there is much there, hopefully it will be enough for your books.” Anne looked around “And Love,” she leaned over with a conspiratorial whisper “Your parents don’t know, it will be our little secret.”

Lily nodded her head, “So when are we heading into London?”

“Well your dad has offered to drop us off tomorrow, he is taking Petunia shopping for your mum’s birthday.”

 

Lily’s excitement had her out of bed very early the next morning. She sat in the kitchen munching on her toast waiting, not so patiently, for the rest of the family to get ready. Distractedly she glanced between the old grandfather clock located in the corner of the room, and her Hogwarts letter. Absentmindedly she noticed it was much smaller than last years, just a simple reminder to be at Platform 9 ¾ on September the first, enclosed with a much reduced book list and her ticket for the Hogwarts Express.

 

_All students should have a copy of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_

_Against the Dark Arts- Theory and Practice by Robin Courageous_

 

Well at least her school supplies wouldn’t cost as much this year- Lily thought as she put the kettle on and made her parents tea- maybe she could buy them with her babysitting money and save her parents the trouble.

“Thanks Lil’ Bear,” her father said gratefully, as she passed him a cup of the steaming brew. “Are you all ready to go?”

“Yes Daddy.” She stood up straight and proudly raised her chin, “I’ve saved twelve pounds from working this summer and I have four Galleons leftover from last year. I can use that to pay for my books, I only need two this year, so you don’t need to give me any money.”

“It’s alright Bear we’ve been putting money aside and we have a Hundred quid for you, so you can put some in your vault and use the rest for your books.”

“Dad that’s worth about 20 Galleons. I don’t need that much! You should keep it.”

“No Love, we’ve been putting it aside for you all year, think of it as a whole years’ worth of pocket money. Now do you need new robes this year?”

“No, I didn’t grow that much,” Lily shook her head, slightly disappointed by the fact, “but I will need some potion ingredients. I’ll just run up and look through what I have left and make a list.” With that she turned and bolted out of the room passing Nanna Anne who made her way into the room.

Mr Evans glanced at his mother, “I worry about her Mum, she seems so grown up, she’s only twelve.” He sighed pouring a cup of tea for his Mum. “I don’t think I started worrying about money until I moved out of home!”

“She was an old soul to begin with and being so different can be hard. Try not to borrow trouble, Love, she will be fine.” She put a hand out and patted him gently on the arm. 

 

The journey to London was just as long as Lily remembered and again none of her family could see the Leaky Cauldron when Lily could, a fact which still amused her. Mr Evans pulled the car to the side of the road and Nanna Anne and Lily got out, waving good-bye as the car pulled away. Lily led her Grandma into the darkened interior of the pub.

“Hello,” she greeted the barkeep. “We’d like to go through to Diagon Alley please.”

He smiled as he said “Sure, my name’s Tom by the way.I think remember you, from last year, I’ll take you through the bar, can you remember which brick to tap?”

“I’m Lily Evans and I think so,” she replied hesitantly as they followed him to the courtyard. She raised her hand and pointed to a brick that was a slightly different colour to those surrounding it, Tom nodded, and Lily pulled out her wand and tapped the brick, which started to wiggle and dissolve until Diagon Alley was revealed once more.

“Oh My Goodness!” Nanna Anne gasped “Isn’t this marvellous!” Lily looked up at her grandmother and couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm, remembering how she had felt after seeing the Alley revealed for the first time.

“Come on Nanna,” She grabbed a wrinkled hand and pulled her grandma into the Alley. At this time the cobblestoned street was filled with families preparing for school, it didn’t appear to have changed at all in the last year.

“We had best go to Gringotts first, Nanna, it’s that big white building at the end. See it’s taller than all the others.” With that the pair moved off through the crowd.

Nanna Anne was enthralled by all she saw, and without the constraining force of Professor McGonagall they were free to stop and look at everything as they went. Marvelling at all the animals in cages out the front of the Magical Menagerie and the weird products in the window of the apothecary where a sign proclaimed- Unicorn hair a Galleon a strand (Lily was very glad she had secured her own from the forbidden forest).

“Unicorns are real?” Anne enquired gazing at the silvery hair.

“Yes Nanna they are lovely, there are some in the forest at school. I saw a herd of them last year.”

Lily showed her Nanna Eeylop’s Owl Emporium, however the snowy owl she had seen the year before was gone.

“Owls are how we send our mail, but I use the school owls if I need to. Though there must be some way of coordinating with normal post because I received all the letters Mum and Dad sent last year.”

“What a useful pet, shall we get you one this year?”

“Oh no Nanna, Tuney doesn’t like birds, she doesn’t think they are clean.” Lily shook her head a little sadly, as the pair wandered up the winding street.

At Gringotts, Nanna Anne was quiet as they faced the Goblin behind the counter.

“Um,” Lily started, her shyness renewed in the face of the stern looking Goblin. “I opened a vault last year, number 2094, and was told that this year I would have to register my wand, but I have just inherited this,” and she passed the envelope over the counter. “And I would like to combine the two vaults please.”

The Goblin took the envelope and slid the key out onto his hand. He held it up to the light with his long fingers, obviously testing its authenticity though Lily wasn’t quite sure how. He used a slender blade to slit the envelop. Then pulled out the parchment, and scanned its contents, before examining it closely and though Lily wasn’t entirely sure, she thought she saw him smell it. He took the parchment and key over to a desk that was nearly hidden from sight where an ancient Goblin sat, he too scrutinized them both before he nodded his head. The teller promptly returned.

“All appears in order; the contents of vault 2094 will be moved to Miss Rose’s vault Number 394. May I see your wand?” he held out a hand.

Lily tentatively handed her wand to the little man; he passed it into a small hole in the counter, which emitted a blue glow as the wand was inserted.

“At times you may be asked to present your wand as a means of identification, you will be sent a statement yearly on the second of September until you reach your majority after which they will be quarterly.” He said as he passed the wand back over the counter. “Withdrawal?”

“Um, no exchange and deposit please.” Lily said as she passed her money across the counter. “May I please deposit ten Galleons and have the reminder exchanged into a mix of galleons, sickles and knuts?”

“That is 12 galleons, 6 sickles and 23 knuts,” the Goblin handed the coins to her and she placed them in her velvet bag.

“Thank you……” she paused and waited.

“Griphook,” he supplied.

“Thanks, Griphook,” she smiled at the Goblin, who looked back blankly nonplussed.

“Where shall we go first Nanna?” Lily asked grabbing her grandmother’s hand once more and dragging the slightly stunned woman back into the Alley.

Nanna Anne looked around at the mass of people, “Well I would honestly like to explore the whole Alley! But we should probably buy what you need first?”

“Some potions ingredients from Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, two new books, some quills, ink and parchment and maybe a present for Mum’s birthday,” Lily said, ticking her fingers off as she counted. “I think Amanuensis Quills is the closest so let’s start there.” They headed back up the street.

An hour later as they walked into Flourish and Blotts, Lily inhaled deeply and fell in love with the store all over again. The dry smell of parchment and ink hit her as she looked around at the books stacked from floor to ceiling.

After purchasing what she needed, Lily wandered over to the Charms section with her two new textbooks tucked under her arm. She lightly ran a finger over the spines of the books as she wondered what secrets they held.

“Hey Lily,” a soft voice called, jolting Lily from her thoughts.She turned around to face the speaker.

“Hi Remus.” She smiled at the sandy haired boy. A brief glance revealed a fresh scar just visible where the sleeve of his worn robe had ridden up. Despite the deep circles under his eyes she still felt she had to ask, “How was your summer?”

“Pretty good, we didn’t do much. And you?”

“Yeah I worked a lot, but it was alright. Are you getting your books?”

He smiled at her slightly redundant question but answered it anyway, “Yeah. We’re lucky there’s not too many new ones.” They were interrupted by Nanna Anne walking around the shelves.

“Lily…” she stopped in surprise as she nearly walked into Remus. “Oh, sorry young man.”

“Nanna this is Remus, a friend from school, Remus this is my Nanna, Mrs. Evans.”

“Good morning Remus, it is lovely to meet you,” she greeted him with a warm smile. “Lily, I’m starting to feel a bit peckish, when you have finished up here, could we grab something to eat?”

“Sure thing Nanna. Hey Remus, did you want to join us for lunch?” Lily happily invited.

“Ah…” Remus started to speak but was interrupted by his father coming round the corner and knocking Lily to the floor in a graceless heap of tangled limbs.

“Sorry Lass,” he held out a hand and helped her to feet. “Are you hurt anywhere?” Lyall drew his wand ready to heal any bruises.

Lily raised an elbow with a raised red mark for treatment and smiled gratefully once the man was finished.

“Lily, Mrs Evans this is my dad, Lyall Lupin.Dad this is Lily Evans, a friend from school and her nanna.”

“Anne Evans,” Nanna Anne supplied, holding out a hand to shake with Mr. Lupin.

“We were just finishing up and then heading for a bite to eat, would you care to join us?” Nanna Anne asked.

“Yes we were just thinking about grabbing some food ourselves weren’t we Remus?” Lyall agreed.

Their time at the Leaky Cauldron flew by. The conversation flowed freely over the delicious food, and Mr Lupin was quite taken with the young girl, she was so charmingly polite, and her shyness was endearing. Lyall was pleased that his son seemed to be finally cultivating some friends. He could only hope that she wouldn’t be driven off by his boy’s affliction if it was discovered.

“Nanna?” Lily asked as they took their leave of the Lupins. “Can we have a look in the Magical Menagerie before we go? Oh! I still haven’t bought anything for Mum’s birthday, though maybe we should get that from Muggle London.”

“Sure Love,” Nanna said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. The pair then made their way back into Diagon Alley.

Anne loved the Magical Menagerie, in particular the brightly coloured Fwoopers caught her eye, they were strangely silent, which was explained by the sign in front of them which read – ‘Silencing charm last applied 15th of August’.

Then in the corner of the shop she spotted what looked to be a cute little Terrier.“Lily Love, come and look at this, I think your mum would love one of these and I can’t see your father complaining seeing as he’s wanted a dog for years.”

Lily hurried over and quickly read the sign on the cage- ‘10 week old Crups 13 Sickles each’.

“Look at their tails…. “ Anne exclaimed, “they have two!” She seemed delighted by the fact.

“Um Nanna I don’t know, Crups don’t tend to like Muggles much, they can be a bit vicious.”

“Lily you have used that word twice now, what does it mean?” Anne looked curiously at her granddaughter.

“Sorry Nanna, Muggle means a non-magical person, like you.”

“Ah I see, well shall we test the theory and ask if I can hold one.”

Worry pooled in Lily’s stomach as she went in search of the owner. She didn’t fancy watching her grandma get bitten. In the end it didn’t matter, for while the Crups did not attack Anne they refused to come out of the cage.

“If I might suggest something?” the owner said in a silky voice that clearly couldn’t have come about naturally.

“Please do.”

“Well I couldn’t help overhearing but, for a mixed household a Kneazle cross might be preferred.”

“A Kneazle? What’s that Lily?”

“They are a lot like cats, I think they might be a good option Nanna.” The two then followed the man to a cage at the back of the store.

“Oh!” Anne gasped. Lily had to wonder how often her Nanna would be surprised today, surely it wasn’t good for the old woman’s heart!

They could just make out a lion like tail protruding out from under a polka dotted cloth in the corner of the cage.The sign attached to the cage read ‘5-month-old Kneazle cross- 12 sickles’.

“This one is a little shy and as such I am having trouble selling him. So I’ll give you a good price,” the owner offered.

“May we hold him?” Lily asked hesitantly.

“Of course,” he carefully unlocked the cage before noticing the chime of the shop bell.

“Oh another customer,” he said turning his head towards the noise. “I’ll be right back,” distractedly he bustled away.

Anne reached tentatively into the cage and carefully pulled away the cloth to reveal a small cat like creature with golden fur. She gently lifted him into her arms. He snuggled in closer and began to emit a low purr as she ran a hand along his back.

“Oh Nanna, he is beautiful, do you think Mum would like him?” the small redhead whispered, reaching over to stroke his head with a mischievous grin on her face. “We could call him Lion and tell them that he had an accident which is why his tail looks like that and Tuney will never know he isn’t just a normal cat! And Dad will think he is a rescue cat so he’ll love him too.”

Anne laughed. “Your Father has always had a soft spot for animals, but do you really think Tuney would fall for that?”

Lily bit her lip considering “I.. I don’t know, but she can’t really complain about cats being unhygienic though I suppose she will make comments about the fur,”

“Well he seems to like me,” Anne said rubbing behind the beast’s ears, “but did you want to hold him?”

Lion seemed happy to be passed across to Lily and nestled down into her arms as she held him, the purring increasing in volume. Lily quickly looked at the sign again as the shopkeeper walked back.

“Well he seems to have adopted you. You know you will need a license?” Lily nodded.

“Alright then how about for 15 sickles you can have the kneazle, the license, a carrier that will transfigure itself into a basket when you get home, you just need to tap it with your wand, food and some treats?”

Lily opened her velvet bag, she still had 8 galleons and a small handful of sickles and knuts.

“That would be lovely,” she said as she passed a galleon to the man.

“Well if we are all done here, I guess we best head out to, what did you call it Lily, Muggle London to meet your father,” Anne laughed at Lily’s excited expression and picked up the carrier as her granddaughter received her change.

 

Four boys sat at a table outside the ice-cream parlour, each consuming an impossibly large ice-cream cone. They had retained the coltishness of children over the summer and despite having gained several inches of height each, their faces still looked like the boy within rather than the men they would one day become.Lyall Lupin and Fleamont Potter occupied chairs at an adjacent table.

“How long ago did you get here Remus?” James asked his friend.

“Before lunch, I’ve already got everything I need, so I’ll just tag along with you guys while Dad’s busy if that’s ok?” he stuck out his tongue and swiped his ice-cream.

The group noticed a slight red-headed girl, who walked passed the shop, with an old lady; she sent a small wave and a shy smile in Remus’ direction. Monty noticed the exchange, his eyes lingering curiously on the girl’s face.

“Remus? Who was that young lass?” he enquired.

“Um, that’s Lily Evans.”

“Hmm,” Monty frowned as he wished Mia was there, the girl reminded him of someone and his wife was much better at remembering faces.

“We ran into them earlier and joined them for dinner at the Cauldron,” Lyall supplied “Lily Evans and her grandmother. They seemed lovely.” Monty couldn’t shake the feeling that they were familiar somehow, even though there appeared to be no reason why they should be.

“You had lunch with them?” Sirius turned on Remus eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

“Honestly, fraternising with the enemy!” Peter added. Personally, he hadn’t had a problem with Lily, but if Sirius was against the girl who was he to stand in opposition.

“Since when has Lily been the enemy?” Remus retorted in a hushed tone. The boys made sure to keep their tones subdued so as not to interrupt the conversation of the two men.

“Since… forever that’s when, her and Snivellus, enemies one and two!” huffed Sirius, holding up fingers as he counted.

“Guys!” Remus tried to protest.

“No! Remus, you listen, no talking to Evans this year, none, zero, zilch, zip!” Sirius dictated.

“But...” Remus tried again, he enjoyed talking to Lily.

“Just no,” Peter cut him off sternly backing up Sirius.

“Why?”

“Because you are OUR friend and not hers that is why,” Sirius huffed.

“James surely you don’t agree?” Remus turned his head to the messy haired boy. “She helped you with potions!”

“Yeah she did, and she isn’t that bad, but…”he looked around at his friends’ faces, before deciding. “Us guys have to stick together so…”

“Fine,” Remus grouchily conceded. “Let’s go get your stuff.”

 

Lily had arranged to meet with Severus in what they had dubbed ‘their compartment’. After arriving at the platform, she quickly spotted her friend, who was struggling to lift his trunk on board. A puff of smoke billowed around the scarlet engine and the shriek of its whistle pierced the air, as she dragged her dad and Nanna Anne across the platform towards Severus.

The pair dragged their trunks on board. “I’ll be back soon Sev, I just have to finish saying goodbye,” Lily told him as they stowed their trunks overhead.

Further down the train Monty and Mia helped James and Sirius board with their luggage and returned to the platform in time to see Lily hugging her family goodbye.

“There she is Mia, the little girl with the bright red-hair, the one I was telling you about, and the lady beside her. I’m sure I know them from somewhere.” Monty pointed to the Evans family.

“Yes Dear, she does look a bit familiar, shall we say hello?”

“James says they are Muggles so it might be coincidence?”

“No harm in chatting though.” They wandered over as Lily disappeared through the crowd and back onto the express.

“Excuse me,” Mia started, Anne and Mr. Evans turned away from the train and smiled.

“Hello.”

“We couldn’t help but notice your daughter is in the same year as our son James and we thought we should introduce ourselves. Monty and Mia Potter.” Monty stuck out his hand.

“Oh well I’m Ewan Evans and this is my Mother, Anne.” Ewan shook Monty’s hand in a friendly manner.

“I saw you in Diagon Alley the other day, and I thought you looked familiar Anne.” Monty said.

“Oh I can’t imagine so we’re Muggles.”

“Oh really, no other magic blood in the family?” he sounded disappointed.

“Well yes but some time ago.”

“Mum, you never said!” Ewan raised his eyebrows at her answer. “You’ve been keeping secrets!”

“Well I didn’t think it was important really, not until…., well you know, Lily,” Anne explained.

“Well who was it Mum?”

“If we are going to have that conversation we should find somewhere to sit down to have a cuppa, after we finish seeing Lily off.”

After the train departed, the group made their way to a nearby cafe. They quickly settled around a table and ordered their food before Anne launched into her explanation.

“Well,” started Anne “I don’t suppose you remember your Great Aunt Rose?” she turned to face her son.

“The one that our Lily looks like? A little, but didn’t Dad always say she was loopy and got worse towards the end. Thought people were chasing her?” Ewan scrunched his forehead in thought.

“Well yes dear, but in her youth she also attended Hogwarts.”

“How old was she Anne?”

“She would have been ninety this year.” Mia and Monty exchanged a brief glance.

“That’s the same age as Dumbledore.”

“Really! The Headmaster of Hogwarts? Surely he is getting on a bit to be working?”

“Well wizards tend to live a bit longer. Tell us more about her. Do you know what she did after school?”

“Mmm she said she worked at a hospital but there were none in the town where she lived, so I’m not sure where.”

“Monty! You don’t think she was our supervisor, when we started at St Mungos?”

“I rather think she was, remember she had that bright red hair, and those green eyes that just about set you on fire when you made a mistake.” He chuckled “Scariest thing to see when she was mad.”

“Oh and that voice that would tear strips off you.” The pair would have continued reminiscing about their mentor for a while longer had Anne not interrupted them.

“Well yes that sounds like Aunty Rose. Her name was actually Hyacinth, but everyone called her Rose. She would have been twenty when I was born. I remember her charming my tea set to be self-refilling when she came over and played tea parties with me. Her husband had died, well been murdered by an evil wizard and we thought she had completely left your world and came back to ours.”

She considered her statement, “Except now that you say that about your supervisor, maybe she didn’t really. Ewan your Dad may have said that she went a bit crazy, but it never seemed that way to me, more like she was searching for something. She kept saying a darkness was approaching and she had to find something to prevent it because she couldn’t face it all happening again.”

“Do you ever think she found it?”

“Yes, I like to think she did.”

“If she did find something, do you know where it would be?”

“Unfortunately no, she passed over twelve years ago, all she left was a small chest, with instructions to give it to Lily.”

“But Mum, Lily wasn’t born when she passed,” Ewan protested.

“I know dear, there was a note with it saying it was for the one who would come after her, clearly that means Lily.”

“Well there are no other witches in the family, so I suppose you are right,” he conceded.

“Of course, I’m right, I’m your mother!” Anne said with a chuckle.

The four continued to converse about their lives for the rest of the meal, mostly about life at Hogwarts. However, the Potters asked numerous questions about the Muggle world to the great amusement of the Ewan and Anne.

“Well I guess we had better be going Mia, your Charity Gala won’t plan itself.”

“Charity Gala.” Anne raised her head, her eyes shining “Oh, I went to a charity dinner with Rose once when I was just eighteen, it was the most marvellous thing, I believe I still have the dress somewhere.”

“Was the ballroom decorated in white roses, with silver ribbons falling from the ceiling?”

“Yes indeed.”

“That was our very first event! Do you remember Monty? We had just started courting then. I think I remember you, you wore a midnight blue dress Anne, yes?”

“Yes I did. Well it has been a pleasure I must say.”

“We shall have to have you around soon for tea? Do you mind if we send an owl?”

“Of course not,” said Ewan delighted to be involved in the world his daughter had entered.

“Come on Mia,” said her husband, before taking her hand in his, “or you will still be here when the train comes back.”He turned to Ewan and Anne and waved them goodbye before disappearing with a crack.


	3. Back To School

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Train ride to Hogwarts and the Start of Year feast. The sorting hat makes an appearance. And Gideon explains why he isn't a prefect.

Chapter 3

 

Somewhere between London’s overcrowded streets and the Scottish countryside the gleaming red engine huffed and puffed its way towards Hogwarts. In the second to last carriage sat a mismatched pair of twelve years olds one with a sallow complexion, black eyes that were obscured by a greasy mane of hair that was in desperate need of cutting, and a sour expression. The other was the light to his shadow, a small girl with fair skin, vibrant red hair and a sunny disposition.

“How was the rest of your summer Sev?” she asked putting aside the book she had been reading to while away the hours.

“Same as always Lily, you know how my parents are _always_ fighting,” he turned his face away from hers to stare at the out the window gazing unseeingly at the passing countryside, not wishing to see her pity.

“Well next time come around more. You could have come hung out with Kathy and I.”

“I don’t think Kathy and her brother like me that much, I didn’t want to intrude,” his scowl deepened as he spat out the name of her other friends.

“You, intrude? Never, Sev, you’re my best friend.”

“You sure that isn’t Kathy? Or…. or Chris?” he blustered.

“Jealous Sev?” she chided him. “I don’t see them for ten months of the year how close can we be? Don’t worry you’ll always be the best.”

“Alright,” he looked her way again and gave a small smile, finally conceding the point.

“Shall we be study buddies again this year?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” for some reason that she couldn’t discern he sounded anxious. “I don’t think I’ll be able to meet you as much this year though, the others kept making... comments last year.”

“What kind of comments Sev?”

“Oh, the usual, you know, ‘why are you hanging around her?’ ‘You can’t be friends with a Mu-” his eyes shifted to hers and he caught himself. “Muggleborn a..and a Gryffindor,” he said, he swallowed a little anxiously.

“Oh I see, I don’t really understand the rivalry,” she admitted. “They say the same stuff in Gryffindor, but I don’t care, you’re more important to me than they are!”

“The guys really take it out on me when I come and see you, that’s all. It’s not that I don’t want to.”

“Oh….Th....that’s okay Sev,” Lily said a little sadly. She picked up her book and turned sideways on the seat leaning against the wall and drawing her legs up to her chest.

“How about we make it Fridays after tea?” he offered by way of conciliation.

“Sure that sounds fine Sev.” Lily shrugged one shoulder and opened her book. She thought it would have been nice to spend more time with him, but she wouldn’t put him in the position of being picked on in the dungeons and she couldn’t ask him to give up the new friendships he was forming either. At least she would have something to look forward to at the end of each week. With a sigh she began to read.

 

Further up the train four boys sat in carriage discussing plans for the year. The first and most important thing, (in fact the only thing on the list thus far) was for them to orchestrate a brilliant prank for the Welcoming Feast.

“I think we should charm the food to disappear off the cutlery whenever anyone goes to eat,” Remus suggested.

“Are you kidding, the food is the best bit of the feast!” Peter threw his hands in the air in horror, vetoing the idea outright.

“How about we charm Dumbledore to sing the welcome speech,” James counter-proposed.

“Achievable, simple yet effective,” said Sirius with a nod.

“Surely, Dumbledore will know the counter curse to _Cantis_ ,” Remus said, and his two black haired counterparts deflated upon hearing his objection.

“Yeah but he likes a good joke so he might just let it slide.”

“I found an interesting potions book in the library at home, we should look in there,” James offered. “It’s full of prank potions. Mum and Dad may not know that I have it.” he continued with a smirk.

“Yeah but one we can’t exactly whip up a potion on the train, can we? And two, to do that we need to add it to everyone’s food, and as we don’t know where the kitchens are….. ”

“Yet,” Peter interrupted Remus, as the boys had promised each other that finding the kitchen would be the top priority for this year.

James nodded in agreement and took over the conversation “Right you are Pete, as we don’t know where the kitchens are, yet, that will have to be another time, though I am thinking we could manage it with an exploding cauldron incident in Potions, right over the top of Snivellus and Evans.”

“Ok so we are settled then _Cantis_ on Dumbledore at the feast and we head up to the dorm to see if we can find a good potion to make.”

“Agreed!” the boys all nodded. Any further discussions were interrupted as they heard the witch with the sweets trolley rattle the doorknob and hands were hastily shoved into pockets to look for change.

 

 

“Anything off the trolley dears?” the grey-haired witch asked, as she passed by the compartment.

“Oh yes please!” Lily jumped up from her seat. “Did you want anything Sev?”

Severus looked up from his book with a small smile, “No thanks Petal.”

“Um, could I have a dozen chocolate frogs and a cauldron cake and 3 liquorice wands please?” The older witch nodded and handed Lily the candy in exchange for a few sickles. Lily then made her way back to her seat, her arms slightly overflowing with treats.

“That’s a lot of frogs Lily,” Severus noted.

“Well I like chocolate and it’s a long time till we come home for Christmas.” Lily lied smoothly. This was the first secret she would keep from Severus, as Lily just didn’t know how to tell him that she was buying chocolate frogs to make a werewolf feel better after the full moon, especially given who that werewolf’s friends were.

 

The hours passed quickly as the two friends alternated between chatting and reading. Soon Lily was standing to pull her robes out of her trunk and throw them on, by the time she was ready to sit down again the train was pulling into the station.

“Firs’ years Firs’ years this way,” Hagrid called over the crowd of bustling students that were clambering out of the train, before catching sight of Lily.

“Ello, Lily how was yer summer?”

“It was good Hagrid, I’ll come by for a visit on Saturday if that’s ok?”

“Be good to see yer,” he smiled widely. “Alright Firs’ years, come this way,” Hagrid then turned his attention to the group of children in front of him, “Alright Firs’ years, come this way.”

“Why do you go down and have tea with him Lily? You could be spending that time with me,” Severus questioned.

“I don’t know, I guess I like Hagrid’s company, he listens to my problems and besides you said you could only see me on Fridays. Oh! And when I did detention with him, I saw unicorns!”

Severus’ head whipped around to stare at her with wide eyes, when had Lily had a detention! Why hadn’t she told him? She told him everything didn’t she?

“Wait, you had detention? When did that happen? What for?” Severus said, his body on edge as he waited for her response, his mind suddenly recalling a night when he was caught out of bed.

“Being out after curfew. I got a note that said to meet someone on the astronomy tower, so I went. However, I soon realised that it was a joke designed to get me in trouble, and I decided to go back to the common room. But something bad happened apparently and someone got hurt so I got called into see Professor Dumbledore. I admitted where I was and got detention.”

As they walked over to the carriages, Severus shoulders relaxed as he realised that Lily wasn’t aware of his role in that debacle.

 

The pair split up as they entered the Great Hall. Lily once again marvelling at the starlit ceiling and floating candles as she made her way to the Gryffindor table, before sliding into a vacant spot next to Fabian. Lily looked around and noted that all the other second years were sitting together and she desperately wished she could be included.

“Well Squirt looks like this is becoming an annual tradition.” She was about to open her mouth to respond but was distracted when a dusty voice cut through the Hall. All the students paused their conversations and turned their attention to the front of the room.

 

_Gryffindors are brave, of that there is no doubt._

_They are boisterous and bold and love to gad about_

_Ravenclaws are wise, knowledge they possess_

_But tolerance a trait that they never do profess_

_Hufflepuffs loyalty is the virtue we celebrate_

_But what of their hard toil and ability to be a mate_

_Slytherins are ambitious and like to push the bar_

_They will use any means and so they will go far._

_I sit and wonder through the year if the Founders got it right_

_Should we divide you all or bind you together tight._

_Out in the world you will see dangers left and right_

_Divided at the start won’t help you win the fight_

_Needless to say the time has come to pop me on your head._

_Let’s get this sorting over then you’ll all be sent to bed._

 

“Interesting song this year,” commented Doc from across the table.

“What did it mean though?” Lily asked.

“Not sure, maybe it’s a warning? As in we all need to try to get along?”

“But why?”

Doc hesitated for a moment, before reaching a decision. His eyes hardened, as his face turned to stare directly at Lily.

“Did you get the paper over the summer?”

“Well Dad gets the Daily News.”

“Not that muggle rubbish,” he waved a hand dismissively, “I mean the Prophet, the wizarding newspaper?”

“No,” she shook her head.

“Well some odd things have been happening in our world. It might not be anything to worry about, but then again it might be. A fellow, who works in the Werewolf Registration Office, went missing as did a few Ministry supporters of Muggleborn rights. One woman, who worked as a healer at St Mungos and specialised in looking after Muggles who have been accidentally affected by magic hasn’t been seen in months. So maybe the hat is saying we should look out for each other and not worry so much about what house people are in.”

“Oh,” she frowned. Maybe the magical world wasn’t as safe as she had presumed it to be.

“It might not mean anything but it’s still worth keeping an eye on. In any case,” Doc extended his index finger towards the first years gathered at the front of the hall, “we are missing the sorting!”

The two then returned their attention to the front of the room in time to see the last students sorted. Soon after, Lily turned to the boy sitting next to her as the plates in front of them filled with food and they began serving themselves.

“How was your summer Fabian?” Lily asked shyly.

“We had a blast teaching our nephew how to fly.Molly is going to have another sprogget so we tried to keep our Bill out of the way.”

“Molly’s your sister?”

“Yes indeed, married to Arthur Weasley. They have Bill who is nearly two and another on the way.”

“Can you fly a broom that young? Is that even safe?”

“Yeah they have special training brooms, which only go a foot or two off the ground.” He stared off into space and smiled as if fondly recalling a memory.“Bill’s a natural, he’ll be Quidditch captain without a doubt.”

“A bit early to be making that call isn’t it?” Lily laughed.

“Well, I think you’re wrong,” Gideon leant across the table to grab a drumstick and used it to point at his brother. “I bet our William, will be Head boy, not Quidditch captain, he likes books far too much.” He shook his head in faux-disappointment.

“Alright you’re on,” said Fabian. “Standard bet, 1 sickle?”

“Done,” his brother gave a satisfied smirk and bit into his chicken.

“You two will surely have forgotten by the time he gets to school,” Lily said.

“Don’t count on it,” Doc chuckled from the other side of the table. “These two made a bet before Gideon hopped on the train in first year over who would have a girlfriend first, and we are still waiting on the outcome. I think they must keep a book of the bets they’ve made somewhere.”

“So I never asked last year, but Fabian you’re in third year? Doc and Gideon you’re in fourth year?”

“Nah, You’re right about Fabe, I’m in Fourth and Gid is in Fifth, the O.W.L year.”

“What are O.W.L’s?”

“Ordinary Wizarding Levels, horrid tests they are.” Lily was about to ask another question but Dumbledore stood up and the hall immediately quietened down. 

“Well looks like the feast is over,” Doc whispered before smiling and turning to face the Headmaster. A pale blue spell flew through the air in the Dumbledore’s direction he nonchalantly waved a hand and it dissipated into nothingness.

“After that sumptuous supper I have a few start of term notices. I wish to advise our new students that the forbidden forest is precisely that forbidden. Our caretaker Apollyon Pringle will retire at the end of this year for reasons of poor health. I would like you all to welcome Mr Argus Filch, our trainee caretaker, and Professor Patsy Esquire who will be our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.” He paused to allow for the smattering of polite applause. “And now off to bed, pip pip.”

The prefects called out for the first years to follow them as they led the way out of the hall.

 

“Oi, Longbottom!” Gideon called out. A tall boy with dark hair two places ahead of them turned to look back, his prefect badge gleaming on his chest. “What’s the password?”

“Que Sera,” he supplied quietly.

“Thanks.”

“Aren’t you a Prefect Gid?” asked Lily.

“Nah, Squirt, I’m a little….”

“Difficult,” cut in Fabian with a chuckle.

 

“Annoying!” added Doc with a wink at Lily.

“I was going to say mischievous,” Gideon finished with a smirk.

“Did you want to be? A prefect that is,” she clarified.

“Well it always seemed like too much effort, not that there aren’t some great rewards, like using the prefect’s bathroom and being able to dock points from insufferable gits. It’s alright for those that don’t mind studying and being upstanding members of the Hogwarts community. I fully expect you to be one.” He smiled down at her.

 

The group left the table and made their way to the common room, with Lily greeting her favourite portraits along the way. They passed the second year Gryffindor boys standing in a huddle at the bottom off the main staircase whispering furiously to each other.

“Well that didn’t exactly go to plan!” grumbled Peter.

“I did try and tell you that a simple cantis wasn’t going to work on Dumbledore.”

“Oh well, we can work on something for Halloween, in the meantime, we need to go and look at that potions book.”Having finished their conversation, the four mischief makers  headed back to the Gryffindor common room.

 

 

 

 


	4. Potions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Potions class and those boys are up to no good! Lily meets a couple of the residents of the Forbidden Forest.

 

 

 

It was hard for most students to pull themselves from their beds the morning after the start of school feast. The late night combined with good food and the excitement of catching up with friends they hadn’t seen since the end of the previous school year lead to an ebbing of energy and most wished nothing more than to stay in bed and sleep as long as possible. However, a small group of boys rose early, ignoring the injustice of the impending lessons, and channelled what energy they had into planning their latest prank.

High up in the castle in a dormitory for four, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were clustered around an ancient book: _Potions for fun by Phil Jocularis_.

“Ok so I guess we want a potion that isn’t too difficult to brew but has a huge effect.” James flipped through the pages seemingly at random until he happened upon one that he thought looked promising; the Haut colaris potion.

“Here, what about this one. This potion will change the colour of the skin semi permanently, highly variable depending on colour adding agent, often used by witches to add skin tone during the winter months.” James read aloud as he stopped flipping through the pages.

“What ingredients are required?” enquired Peter.

“Well the ones which will be hard to get our hands on, are bubotuber pus and boomslang skin, the rest are all things we have in our potions kits. The brewing method looks easy enough, but requires a week to stabilise, and then there is the…what was it called,” he ran his finger down the list of ingredients. “The colour adding agent, in this they use TEA!” James exclaimed as he read through the list, “The depth of the colour is affected by the strength of the tea and the steeping time!”

“Hmm well sounds tasty,” Sirius smirked, “and Snivellus could use a tan. However, I don’t think that is quite what we’re looking for, we need a little more pizazz.How about we add Blueberries instead?”

“I could probably get Mum to send us some,” James responded.

“W.. w..we can get the bubotuber pus from the greenhouses, but getting the boomslang skin will be difficult, that will have to come from Slughorn’s ingredients cupboard,” Peter stammered out, anxious at the opportunity to prove his place amongst his friends.

“Whatever we do, I still don’t think it is right to have another go at Evans,” Remus cut in.

“Still going on about that. Really Remus it’s time to let it go. She has chosen her side by continuing to hang out with Snivellus. Clearly, she wants to move into Slytherin with her greasy haired mate. Maybe with some gentle….” Sirius smirked, “encouragement…she will take the appropriate steps.”

“I highly doubt all Slytherins are bad, what about your cousin Andy?” Remus tried to reason with him.

“Well Andy is the exception, the rest are bad.” Sirius pouted remembering all the times Bella and Narcissa had come over for Family dinners, and had sent sneaky tripping spells to try and make him fall down the stairs, while the adults discussed the best ways to get rid of the muggle scourge. He knew that Lily was Muggleborn, however she was always hanging round that Snape boy anyway, so she may as well go join him, no-one wanted her in Gryffindor!

“That’s enough!Changing her skin colour, isn’t going to hurt her; it’s just a harmless prank,” James said, ending the argument. “Besides, us Marauders all stick together, right?”

“Right,” the others agreed.

“Hey! We should have a code,” Sirius exclaimed.

“A code, what do you mean?” Peter asked.

“Like a list of things we will do and not do as Marauders. Like 1. Marauders always come first. Nothing can ever comes between us and our fellow mischief makers,” here Sirius paused to look at Remus “for example girls!”

“Brilliant. 2. We shall create havoc and mischief where ever we go!” crowed James.

“3. Never tell on another Marauder. For example, if some of us get caught doing a prank, we don’t dob the others in,” Peter added once again keen to contribute.

“Well that is a given,” declared James throwing an arm round Peter’s shoulders, who beamed up at his response.

“But what if… only one is caught and,” Sirius began, stroking his imaginary beard, “said Marauder ended up doing detention alone, that’s not cool, unless of course he had pranked alone.”

“Well how about 4. No marauder does detention alone? So, if only one of us gets caught another will either confess involvement or better yet do a solo prank with the intention of landing in detention?” Remus supplied.

“Number 5. Marauders don’t keep secrets from each other,” James grinned. "I'm sure more will come to us."

“We will have to write up a modus operandi,” stated Remus.

“Sorry a what?” asked Peter his nose scrunched up in confusion.

“Modus Operandi- or a manifesto is a guideline for a way of doing something, usually for criminal activities. Not and I emphasise this,” Remus took a deep breath before leaning forward and continuing more loudly than before, “NOT that we will be doing any illegal activities! Despite being Marauders.”

“The Marauder’s Manifesto. I like the way you think, Remus.” Sirius stated.

“Ok first things first. First prank of the year we’ll name it,” James paused for effect, “Operation Azure Lily!”

“Ok James that’s just weird, no names alright,” laughed Sirius.

James grumbled a bit at his friend’s remark but decided to table the issue for now, deciding he’d still call it that even if Sirius thought it was ‘uncool’. “Fine, so anyway we need bubotuber pus! What plant is it from and how do we get it?” The four heads bent together, and Remus produced a parchment and quill.

 

September the second dawned and with it came their first classes, for the second years it was Potions followed by Herbology, Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts. The four boys were huddled together behind a desk at the back of the room, while Professor Slughorn droned on about the day’s topic.

“So, Remus and Pete will head up to get our ingredients, and search for the boomslang skin while they are in the ingredients cupboard,” stated James.

“Do you know what it looks like Pete?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, it’s like snake’s skin,” the shortest of the boys nodded.

“Perfect.Now what are we supposed to be making today?” asked James. However, their discussion was curtailed by the sound of a throat clearing.

 “A-hem.” The boys looked up to see Professor Slughorn looking sternly in their direction. “Gentlemen, if you have quite finished your conversation provide the class with an answer….?” the professor said with a raised eyebrow.

“Sorry Sir, could you please repeat the question?” James tried to look suitably chastised, but the amused glint in his eye meant that he failed miserably. The professor frowned and shook his head. James noticed Lily rolling her eyes while Severus smirked in his direction.

“As I was saying, today we are reviewing the Wiggenweld potion we made last year. Now Mr. Potter perhaps you could tell us what it is used for?” Slughorn asked in a distinctly unimpressed tone of voice.

“Well yes Sir, it would be used to awaken a person from a magically induced sleep,” James replied and plastered on a cheeky grin, hiding the fact that he was grateful that he actually knew the answer.

“Correct. Everyone may now gather their ingredients and get cracking.” The room burst into a hive of activity.

“Remus, what ingredients do we need?” Peter frowned as they headed towards the ingredients storage at the front of the classroom.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll get them, you just look for the boomslang.”

“Good Morning Remus, Peter,” Lily said as she passed by the two having exited the closet. The Peter ignored her and jabbed Remus sharply in the side with his elbow preventing him from saying anything either.He did however catch her hurt expression as she glanced back at them making Remus feel a twinge of guilt.

“Come on Remus. We’d better hurry or Slughorn will be suspicious,” whispered Peter tugging at Remus’ sleeve.

When the two returned to their desk Peter explained his empty hands to the group “No boomslang, it must be in his private store.”

“Well I wonder where he keeps that?”

“No idea, we’ll have to find out I guess. Maybe we can ask someone?”

“Yeah, great,” Sirius adopted a high falsetto voice and continued ‘Hi my name’s Sirius Black and I was hoping you could tell me how to get into Slughorn’s private ingredients store, so I nick some ingredients for a prank?”

“Well maybe not like that, let’s keep an ear out,” responded Remus with a roll of his eyes.

 

A week later, and the four were discussing over lunch how their one and only lead on obtaining the boomslang skin was that the door to Slughorn’s private store was located somewhere in the potions classroom.

“What we really need is two hours unsupervised time in the dungeons so we can have a proper look,” said Peter

“Two hours, hmm, what if we get detention with Slughorn? It should be something like cleaning out the cauldrons so….” James mused.

“Ok, what can we all do to get detention?” asked Sirius.

“Be late for class,” suggested Peter

“Nah, that tall girl from Slytherin was late last lesson and he only docked points,” James shook his head.

“Fail to do homework,” mused Remus.

“Points again, I forgot mine last week,” replied Sirius.

“What if we have an accident in class?” James said, “He told us that we’re making sleeping draughts tomorrow, so if we accidentally spill it when we’re cleaning up, there should be a big enough fuss.”

“Better idea,” Sirius yelled as inspiration hit him “We trip Snivellus, so he tips his cauldron everywhere. That way we get an extra prank in,” he grinned at the others.

“Excellent idea Sirius, all in favour?”

“Aye,” four voices chorused.

“Only thing is Remus, you had better get the potion right,” James added.

“Me! But potions is my worst subject, Peter’s much better!”

“Alright Peter, are you up for it?”

“Ummm, Yeah I guess so.” Peter, while slightly shocked by their confidence in his abilities couldn’t help feeling pleased that they were relying on him.

 

Out on the grounds Lily headed down the path to Hagrid’s hut, she looked longingly at the forest as she strolled.

“Hagrid,” she called as she knocked on his door.

“Sorry Lily, I’m headin’ inter the forest, so I can’t stop fer a chat today,” his deep voice rumbled as he emerged from the hut.

“That’s ok Hagrid,” she said a little sadly. “I can come back next week.”

“Sorry Lily, we’ll have a good chat next time,” he gave her a cheery wave as wandered off in the direction of the forest.

Lily waited until Hagrid had cleared the tree line before running to her tree. She climbed swiftly into its welcoming branches.The breeze cooled her skin as its gentle caress face and bought with it a peaceful tranquillity.Lily always felt homesick the first couple of weeks back at school. Even though being home for the summer hadn’t been the complete joy she thought it would be.Petunia seemed continually grumpy and her name calling was tiring to deal with, but her parents and Nanna Anne loved her, and she had been able to escape to visit Sev or Kathy when Tuney became too much. However, she still missed those friendly faces and having her own space.

A slight movement caught her eye and she heard the clop of hoof on stone, she froze in place and anxiously hugged the tree trunk. She was shocked to see a myth come to life. He walked through the trees on the edge of the forest. The body of a horse blended into the perfect torso of a boy, his pale hair glowing in the sunlight.He was, she noted, not yet fully grown, being not much taller than herself.He looked around, as if sensing that he was being watched, and his shockingly blue eyes quickly found her own.

“Hello,” he said staring up at the red head. Lily gave a shy smile and waved. “Will you not come down?” he called softly. She shook her head and climbed down the tree but maintained her silence.

“You are not like others we have seen,” he observed, looking her over.

Curiosity overtook her timid nature, “What others?” she asked quietly.

“There are boys who come, they like to play and race. They disturb the creatures in the forest. How are you called?” he tilted his head to the side as he looked at her curiously.

“I am Lily. Who are you?”

“I am Firenze.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she walked forward cautiously with a hand extended. He looked at her, then took her hand and turned it over examining it.

“Are you injured?” he asked still analysing her hand, bending and flexing her wrist. “Do you need assistance? I am not trained in the healing of men.”

She laughed “No, when humans meet someone and wish to show respect we shake hands.”

He seemed puzzled by this “Oh, why?”

“Um, I don’t know actually,” she laughed again “I guess that it’s custom.”

He looked closely at her for a moment, his eyes widening and losing focus for a moment before they focussed back on the girl in front of him. His crystal blue eyes made Lily feel as if he was staring right into her soul.“Lily Evans… your blood is linked with Mars, when Mars is bright so must your blood shine, or doom will come.”

  Lily wasn’t sure what to make of this statement and could do nothing but stare at Firenze. After long moments she said, “Firenze what do you mean?”

“Your blood is linked to Mars. It waxes and wanes, when the time comes your blood will, nay, must shine or all will be lost, so the stars say.”

If anything this made Lily more confused, “If I could sneak away from the castle would you show me Mars one night and explain what it means?…please.”

“No Lily Evans, you must learn the patterns of the stars in the heavens up at the school,” he nodded in the direction of the castle. “Humans cannot comprehend the things we see.”

From deeper in the forest the clip clop of hooves could be heard approaching and a red haired chestnut centaur came into sight.

“Ronan,” greeted Firenze, turning away from Lily.

“Firenze, you know not to wander by the edges, you must leave this foal alone,” the older centaur warned.

“Ronan this is Lily Evans her blood….”

“That is her journey; we do not involve ourselves in the world of those on two legs.”

Firenze hung his head, “Goodbye Lily Evans.”

“Goodbye Firenze, Ronan, it was nice meeting you.”

“Be careful Lily Evans, the forest is not always a safe place, especially for one such as you,” with these parting words Firenze turned and followed Ronan into the forests depths.

 

“Good morning everyone,” greeted Professor Slughorn. “Today we will commence with a simple sleeping draught. Though it is usually consumed orally do take care,if the potion is strong enough its fumes will make you drowsy while brewing and in extreme cases may induce sleep on skin contact alone.Gather your ingredients and get to work. Your instructions are on the board,” Slughorn flicked his wand to the board behind him and writing appeared, “If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask.” 

He hummed as he drifted between the tables. As usual he stopped by Lily and Severus’ desk watching as each prepared their ingredients.

“Hmm, what is this Lily?” the professor asked pointing at an unexpected ingredient that lay on her desk.

“Um, it’s Chamomile, Sir,” she blushed, nervous at receiving direct attention.

“Yes, I recognise what it is, but it isn’t on the list of ingredients, now is it?” he raised an eyebrow.

“No Sir, but looking at the ingredients, I thought the potion might be improved with a little. Chamomile should aid drowsiness and decrease inflammation. So, I thought it might counteract some of the negative side effects of the draught. Plus, my Mum always has Chamomile tea when she is feeling worried and it calms her, so I thought it could help ease the effects of insomnia.”

“My Goodness! Miss Evans, who did you say your parents were again?”

“I don’t believe I have said Sir, but you wouldn’t know them they’re muggles.”

“Well, pure talent then eh?” he chortled with delight as if he had just discovered hidden treasure and her cheeks grew redder at his praise. “I shall have to keep an eye on you, and your friend Severus here, quite the exceptional pair. You both have wonderful potential. I’ll be marking you down to join my Slug club when you reach fifth year. Do make sure you bottle a couple of vials I would like to have Poppy test your potion.” He seemed entirely unconcerned that she had barely begun to brew her potion.

An hour later, Lily’s potion was collected by the happy professor and four Gryffindors began the next stage of their plans. Severus was just standing to prepare a sample of his potion for assessment.

“Ok Gentlemen the time is now,” Sirius whispered. The four boys from Gryffindor had gathered around a table on the opposite side of the room to the pair with Sirius sitting on the front edge of his chair, closest to the aisle. Peter pretended to bend over to collect his bag and in doing so gave James an exaggerated push, James fell into Remus who knocked into Sirius.

“Argh!” Sirius fell with an exaggerated cry, his arms flinging about wildly as he fell into the aisle.

Severus had deftly scooped a portion of his mixture into a phial and was capping it, when Sirius rammed into him from behind. He turned angrily, and his flailing arms sent his cauldron flying. It spewed its contents over Lily and the two girls in the row behind them. The three girls all fell into a slumber, Alison and Mary’s heads fell forward onto their desk with a soft thud.Lily, who had been standing facing Severus crumpled as the draught took hold and fell backwards her head striking the wall with a resounding crack! That caused Severus to wince in sympathy.

“What in the blazers?” Professor Slughorn huffed glaring at Severus.

“I didn’t…I wouldn’t…not on purpose,” Severus exclaimed looking down on Lily’s limp form in horror. “I was pushed Professor,” he turned to glare at Sirius who was picking himself up off the floor.

  “I just fell off my chair, sorry” Sirius responded with an unrepentant expression.

“Mmmm,” Slughorn was not amused. “Did anyone else see what happened?”

Marcus Avery who had been sitting behind the Marauders raised a hand.

“Sir, that one,” he pointed to Peter with disdain “pushed that one,” he indicated James “ who pushed that one,” another indication “who pushed that one, who was swinging on his chair and he fell off and hit Snape” he gave a smug smile as he finished, seemingly happy to get the boys in trouble.

“Well gentlemen, this classroom, is not a place for pushing and shoving and games, 5 points each from Gryffindor and all of you now have detention with me, this evening at 6 o’clock, and don’t bother to bring your wands, you won’t be needing them! It’s fortunate that we did the Wiggenweld potion last week, so I have samples on hand.” Turning his back on the boys he made ready to prepare to revive the three girls and take Lily to the hospital wing to be assessed for a concussion.


	5. Operation Azure Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After much preparation those naughty boys prank Lily.

 

Operation Azure Lily was well underway (the names still hadn’t taken off, much to James’ disappointment). Step two had begun.Step one, obtaining the Bubotuber pus, had already been completed and hadn’t been as challenging as they had expected. It seemed that Remus was an ace at herbology. He had snuck into Greenhouse three on their way out of class the previous Friday and obtained the two phials of the gelatinous pus that they needed. The hopeful group trouped down the stairs towards the dungeons on their way to detention.

“Ok so two of us will be doing whatever the task is and two will be searching. Anyone bring their wand?”

“Yep,” came the reply in triplicate as they headed down the stairs.

 

“Gentlemen,” Slughorn greeted them at the door to the Dungeons. “I trust none of you bought your wands?”

“No Sir,” they chorused with looks of contrived innocence on their face. Slughorn didn’t seem to notice their duplicity and accepted their word.

“Right today you will be cleaning the cauldrons by hand.” He indicated a stack of cauldrons that stretched along one wall, from ceiling to floor and paused when the boys groaned “Now, now, now, you need to learn that the potions classroom is a serious place. You will not leave until they are all clean,” with that he headed to the front of the classroom, sat down at his desk and began grading papers.

“Um, we have a hitch in the plan,” James muttered as he grabbed a cauldron and a scrubbing brush.

“What we need, gentlemen, is a distraction,” whispered Sirius, as he filled a sink with water and added some all-purpose cleaner.

“Ewww, what was in these cauldrons,” Remus screwed up his face as he pulled his brush out of the cauldron he was cleaning to find it covered in what could only be described as dark brown slime.

“Nothing that was brewed properly at any rate,” supplied Peter with a shrug.

“I think I have an idea,” Sirius grinned. “What if one of us was to …ah…eat some..ah..slime and needed to be taken to the hospital wing by our revered teacher?”

“Well yes, that would provide a distraction, but it could also kill them,” said Remus who wasn’t keen on such a ridiculous idea.

“Hang on,” Peter investigated several cauldrons. “This looks likewideyepotion gone wrong, too much alihotsy, side effects should be hallucinations, insomnia and delusions of grandeur,” he sniffed the mixture before adding “I don’t think anything in there would cause permanent harm.”

“Ok, who’s willing?”

“I’ll do it,” Peter offered “The teachers think I’m a bit slow anyway, so just say I licked it to see what it tasted like or on a dare or something.”

“Alright Pete,” Sirius happily agreed cutting off James and Remus’ objections.

Peter smelt the mixture again, before gingerly sticking his finger into the pot to scoop out a sample and then placing it in his mouth. He gagged, coughed and then shook his head in his attempts to swallow the mixture; the other boys looked on wondering exactly how bad it tasted to generate that reaction, slowly becoming more nervous about what Peter had been encouraged to do. Suddenly his face went red and he began to talk with excessive speed.

“Oh look I can smell the rainbows. Can you smell the rainbows? They’re orange and red and green and blue. Squirrel!” He shouted running over to the wall on the far side of the room where the torches caused shadows to dance, he pounced at the wall trying to catch the imaginary rodent. Incredibly Professor Slughorn hadn’t looked up.

“Um Professor…Professor….PROFESSOR WE HAVE A SITUATION HERE!” James yelled now genuinely concerned for his friend.

Slughorn looked up “Yes Mr Potter.”

“Um Sir…..” he indicated where Peter had hauled himself onto a desk.

“I can fly, I can Fly….. I can FLY!” he shouted as he prepared to jump from the desk in his efforts to become airborne. He leapt off the desk arms akimbo; the Professor waved his wand and cast a cushioning charm so that he landed on his stomach with a squelch.

“Weeeeee!”

“Would you care to tell me what has happened?” Slughorn asked his voice a higher pitch then normal.

“Um we think he might have eaten something out of one of the cauldrons, Sir, he gets hungry you see,” Remus improvised.

Slughorn sighed, “Right well, I’ll take him up to the Hospital Wing, the rest of you keep going,” he quickly grabbed Peter by the arm as he the boy scrambled to his feet eyes on the purple polka dotted hypogriffs that only he could see.

“Are we going to see the Fairy Princess?” Peter asked excitedly as he was led away.

Remus watched them leave and gave the all clear once they were around the bend in the corridor.

“Right, well we’d best make the most of the situation,” he pushed the feelings of guilt aside and pulled his wand out of the sleeve of his robe “I’ll get cleaning you guys can search. Scourgify,” he pointed his wand at the inside of the cauldron he was holding and it was magically scrubbed clean.

Sirius and James looked at each other before heading to either end of the room.An extended search of the walls revealed nothing, except that the Potions storeroom was locked after classes.

“Well we’ve looked everywhere,” they gave an exasperated sigh and leaned over a desk.

“Where did you look?” Remus asked looking up from his latest cauldron.

“We looked over all the walls twice, and tried to get into the Potions store.”

“Did you look down then?”

“No why, what could be lower than the floor of the dungeon?”

“Well I can’t help but notice that you are standing on what looks to be a large metal ring, which might just be attached to a…”

“A trapdoor,” he was cut off by the two dark haired boys.

“A dungeon, in the dungeon, how very apt.”

Carefully the boys grabbed the ring and pulled. It took their combined efforts to raise the stone trapdoor. Kneeling down they peered into the dark interior.

“Well there are steps here. Lumos,” James peered into the depths, his glasses sliding down his nose.

The pair crept down the stairs; the light from their wands passing through the specimens floating in jars caused strange and disturbing shadows to dance upon the walls.

“Eww what’s this?” Sirus had plucked a jar from a shelf.

James glanced his way, “Um, looks like Newts brains.”

“And this?” Sirius was holding a jar full of pinkish purple blobs floating in a yellowish solution up to the light.

“Pickled toads liver.”

Sirius sniffed exaggeratedly several times “Do you think it smells funny down here?” he asked as he placed the second jar back on the shelf.

“Sirius, it smells just like an apothecary! Just look for the Boomslang skin would you!” said James becoming exasperated.

“Oh that, yeah, it’s just over here, I meant to tell you, but I got distracted. Hey!”

James had reached over and smacked Sirius’ forehead.

“Ow.. bloody hell James, that was not necessary!”

“Au Contraire I rather think it was.How much do we need?”

“Just the one.”

“Well hurry up and grab it so we can get out of here before Slughorn comes back.”

They climbed out of the store room, replaced the trapdoor and rejoined Remus, a moment before the Professor re-entered the room muttering about that “Fool of a boy.”

“Right, how much have you done?” he inspected the pile of clean cauldrons. “Another hour should do it, back to work.”

 

Severus was sitting in the dungeons reading a book when a shadow fell across his page.

“Severus,” he looked up to see a blonde haired boy towering over him.

“Malfoy,” he acknowledged.

“Are you willing to continue your lessons this year?”

“Of course,” the dark-haired boy responded with a slight smile.

“You are lucky that last year’s fiasco has not excluded you from joining us.”

“Last year’s fiasco?” Severus raised an eyebrow, determined not to cower before the older boy.

“Yes, your spell barely had any power; Pomfrey was able to cure most of the spell’s effects within a week, it is supposed to be incurable. It was a farce; you shall have to try harder if you wish to impress me,” Lucius replied in a haughty tone.

Severus thought this was a bit rich, all things considered the whole plan had fallen apart because of _Malfoy’s_ changes. He had ended up making it up on the spot! Severus wanted to rage and shout at the older boy for changing the plan and arranging Lily to come to the tower. Years of conditioning from his father had taught him that this wouldn’t be a wise response. He would ignore it, for now, to protest would only add further questions about Lily, he knew his friendship with her was frowned upon, but he wouldn’t give up his light.

“Indeed,” he drawled “Well it has affected him enough that he is retiring this year, still I will work to improve.”

“What are you reading?”

He showed the battered front cover, “ _The Disyction of Spells_ by Amycus Severence.”

“I don’t recall it being one of the required readings for your year,” Lucius stated.

“That’s because it isn’t. It’s an old book of my Grandfather’s, I’m hoping it will help me with that hard work you were just mentioning.”

“That is a better attitude. I’ll report that you have taken our advice on board.”

“Our advice? Report to whom?” Severus enquired, his Mother hadn’t been able to find out any further details of the alleged Dark Lord.

“Oh, that’s my little secret” the older boy smirked.“I’m sure you will find out in time. Till then keep up your studies.”

Severus watched as Malfoy walked over to greet his girlfriend. Checking the time Severus tucked his book into his bag and headed to the library to meet Lily. He knew she would be waiting for him, as predictable as always, sitting at the table in the furthest corner of the library, her eyes would be downcast as her quill wandered over the parchment. He was not disappointed as he caught sight of her mane of red hair.

“Evening Petal,” he said by way of greeting his lips twisted into a smile.

She looked up at him “You’re late,” she said cheekily.

“Only two minutes, that hardly counts!” he pretended to be insulted.

“Well I suppose I will forgive you this time, but only because I missed you,” his acting drew a giggle.

“Missed me did you? Well we shall have to meet more often.”

“Something I have already suggested, but you said it would cause trouble with your other friends, and I don’t want you to get into strife.”

He sighed, wishing the words she had spoken were untrue. It was a matter of simple deduction to conclude that she had been sent to the Tower that night as a direct result of their friendship, a message for him, encouragement to cut off all ties with her and at the very least not to become any closer to her. However, he still felt that the benefits of the friendship outweighed the risks. Finally he responded.

“You are, of course, correct. I am sorry about the potions incident.”

“What are you sorry for, it was hardly your fault, those arrogant bloody Marauders pushing people around in class really….” He smiled and let her vent for a while, enjoying hearing her disparaging remarks about the Gryffindor boys. “…..Did you at least get a sample of your potion for Slughorn it must have been potent to knock us all out?”

“Yes, Slughorn said it was perfect, not as perfect as yours of course.”

“Mine? No,” she shook her head.“My methods meant mine was always going to be a standard potion, while you make the best of the potion. You improve the method I merely play with the recipe.”

He smiled again at her compliment and she enjoyed the softening effect it had on his face. She wished he would do it more often.

“Well maybe we should collaborate then?” he suggested. “Hey I thought you might like to read this, when I am done.” He offered her the book he had been reading earlier.

“Wow, this is ancient,” her handed hovered over the book. “Are you sure you want to share it?”

“It’s was my Grandad’s. He used to be interested in the old magic.”

“Old magic?”

“Yes the roots of magic. You know, how people went from random acts of wandless magic, to waving sticks of wood around muttering spells. Someone had to think of that.”

She gingerly took the book and carefully leafed through its pages. “Wow this is advanced stuff Sev, I think you could use this to create spells. Think, you could come up with a spell to cure Muggle cancer, or defend against the unforgivables or even cure Lycanthropathy!” the inspiration made her face glow.

A sandy haired boy standing between two rows of books a short distance away, overheard and held his breath- why would she mention Lycanthropy? Was it a coincidence or did she know what he was? If she knew would she tell? The fear of these possibilities made him begin to sweat **.**

He held his breath straining to hear more.“Cure the werewolves? Why would anyone want to?” Severus’ voice was sharp with a tinge of disgust.

“Can you not think how horrid it must be?” Lily explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I can’t imagine how painful the transformations must be, the pictures in the books make it look awful, and then there is the not being able to control your actions. Never knowing when you wake up the next day if you have hurt or injured someone. It must be absolutely frightful! And this book could be the key to easing that suffering.”

“Sounds like women’s problems,” snorted Severus.

“Really Sev! Sometimes you’re so insensitive. I just think it would be awful, to be so normal and human one day and then to be turned into a monster at the whim of the moon,” she gave him a fierce glare as she returned his book. “However I would love to read this when you are done,” she reverentially placed the book into Severus’ awaiting hands.

Remus let out the breath he had been holding, nothing indicated that she knew what he was, and she didn’t seem scared of werewolves. If that overheard conversation was anything to go by then it seemed more like she cared and had tried to understand what they went through.He had never before encountered someone who did that.It gave him hope that the others might not be fearful of him, when they…. _if_ they ever found out, and he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt over the prank they were going to play and how he was treating someone who had only ever tried to be his friend.

Somehow three weeks had passed since school had started and the boys were in their dormitory occupied with concocting their brew.

“Stir three more times to the right, then wave your wand over it with the action for the colorvaria charm,” Peter instructed reading from the book, James waved his wand over the cauldron.

“Right that’s it then, one week to let it stabilise then we are good to go,” Peter nodded his head.

“Remus are you alright?” James looked over at the Sandy haired boy who was sitting on his bed.

“Yeah, just not feeling the best. Think I might go see Madam Pomfrey.”

“Alright then,” James tucked the cauldron under his bed as Remus left the room. “He gets sick quite a bit doesn’t he?”

“Yeah, so does his Mum, I think the both must have some weird curse on them,” Sirius agreed.

“Alright then how are we going to get this mixture into Lily’s cauldron?”

“Simple we throw it in?” said Peter.

“Yes thanks for that Genius,” James said sarcastically, “but we’ll need a container that will hold the liquid without spilling it while it’s airborne and but will then release its contents when it falls into the cauldron, possibly with a small explosion.”

“What about a dung bomb?” Peter crinkled up his nose

“Well that makes the explosion but only if it strikes the side of the cauldron hard enough, but what about the liquid? Wouldn’t that absorb some of the force so that it won’t burst properly and release the potion Urgh, who knew pranking, could be this hard, I’m going to bed.” Sirius groaned. The two remaining boys agreed and gave up their planning for the evening.

 

They awoke the next morning to find Remus’ bed still empty, figuring that he was still in the hospital wing they decided to check on him on the way to breakfast.

“Morning Remus,” they called as they crashed through the doors.

“My Goodness Gentlemen, this is a hospital not a zoo!” Madam Pomfrey accosted them the minute they walked in.

“Dearest Madam Pomfrey, we merely sought to bring respite to our dear friend Remus, whom was feeling poorly last night. May we visit him please?” James put on his most charming smile.

“Well alright then, but 5 minutes only, he isn’t well,” she gave a slight smile at his antics.

They ran through the ward and gathered around Remus’ bed.

“Remus, how are you doing?” his bedsheets were pulled up to his shoulders, so they never saw the bite marks on his arm, or the scratches that covered his legs.

“Yeah, been better,” he replied his voice hoarse.

“Ooh Chocolate frog!” exclaimed Peter reaching out to take it from the table at Remus’ side.

“Hey that’s mine,” protested Remus.

“And the bird?” Peter held up a folded paper crane, its body almost balloon like.

“Here let me see.” Sirius snatched the bird off the smaller boy and flipped it over; he noticed there was a small hole in the base of the body. Grinning he looked up at the others “We have just found our means of getting the potion into the pot!”

All was prepared, Sirius had the small paper bird loaded with potion stowed in his pocket, a small drop of sealing wax plugged the hole and prevented the potion escaping. James had the dung bomb in his, it had been coated with foxglove which was sure to react with the ingredients in the days point and cause and exothermic reaction. As usual they sat at a desk at the back of the room, on Slughorn’s instructions they set out the ingredients that they would require for the days potion. The class began to work and the foursome could see the pair at the front desk leaning over and talking to each other about their work.

“Trajectory could be an issue,” Remus whispered eying the angle.

“Snivellus usually steps back when he is done. He nearly always finishes just ahead of Lily and then waits for her to finish before signaling Slughorn. That will be the key moment, he stands upthen we fire the bird while he is looking to see if hers is complete. Then he will lean over to inspect hers, when he does we throw the dung bomb and bang! Blue everywhere!”

The plan worked flawlessly, Severus stood back, and half turned to face Lily, with a flick of a wand the bird flew unnoticed into the cauldron, he leant over and they released the bomb.It hit the inside wall of his cauldron with a bang and the contents were launched into the air covering Lily and Severus. Hearing the noise Slughorn turned around to see his favourite students covered in the spoiled potion.

“Oh Dear! What happened Severus? Did you heat it a little too much? Oh and Miss Evans’ is spoiled as well, never mind. Whip me up another batch after classes today and you can still have full credit.”

“Professor, I didn’t!... Look, someone threw this into my cauldron!”

Lily turned and looked as Severus scooped a very soggy but still recognisable paper bird from his cauldron, her heart dropped. Why would he use it? Eavesdropping at the hospital wing had shown he didn’t know it was her delivering the frogs.Should she confront him? That would let him know she knew about his illness, and he clearly wasn’t ready for that. Maybe she was wrong, and he had guessed she knew and that was why he no longer talked to her. Wouldn’t that raise questions with Severus? Would Sev care if Remus was a werewolf? Thinking back to his response in the library, she knew he would and it wouldn’t be positive. She mused in silence and deciding to say nothing. Laughter broke through her thoughts.

“L…l…look at them! They look like Huckleberry Hound!”

“Who?”

“Oh a little blue dog…, never mind, it’s a muggle thing.”

Lily looked down at her arms to see them covered in patches of blue, feeling the potion on her face she guessed it would be much the same. She pointed her wand at her face as she said “Evanesco.” making the potion disappear.

“Professor can we head…” she started to speak.

“To the Hospital wing yes Miss Evans, see if Madam Pomfrey can help you, though looking at this I think that the only thing that is going to make it better is time.”

 

Unfortunately, he was correct, Madam Pomfrey examined them closely, and then told them the best thing they could do was wash regularly and wait. As being blue was not an illness they were not allowed time off classes. Lily just knew she would be teased for the two weeks it took for the potion to wear off. Sadly, it seemed that Hogwarts was beginning to replicate her muggle school before she had met Kathy.


	6. Into the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily is acting suspiciously. And the boys get into trouble for being somewhere they shouldn't be.

 

Two weeks later and Saturday again found Lily on her way to visit Hagrid, it had been a fortnight since she had last seen him, and although she knew he was busy she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. This year was harder than the last as Remus had taken to avoiding her, she didn’t have clue why, and she really wanted someone to talk to about it. There was no use trying to talk to Sev about it as he wanted nothing to do with Remus because he was one of the Marauders. He refused to discuss the matter apart from saying that it was a good thing Remus wasn’t talking to her and she shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. She spotted Hagrid working in his garden as she approached.

“Hi Hagrid,” she called giving him a wave as he looked up from his work.

“Lily!” he smiled at her “How ‘ave you been?”

“Okay. And you?”

“Well, to be honest, I am trying to keep the slugs away from my pumpkins, or there won’t be any for Halloween this year!”

“Can I help?”

“Can’t let you near this poison, best if I do it myself,” he declined her assistance.

“Alright,” she kept the disappointment out of her voice “See you later then.” She waved and walked back towards the castle. She glanced back briefly to see that Hagrid had bent over and begun work no longer paying her any attention, so she detoured to the edge of the forest. Over the weeks the call of the forest had grown, and she was now planning to go ‘just a little way in’ on her own. Studying the tree line, she made a plan. If she entered at the spot where the forest grew close to Hagrid’s hut he wouldn’t see her and if she angled towards the castle she should quickly come across the western path, where she could look for the unicorns. With Hagrid busy in his garden it seemed like the ideal time. A noise ahead of her made the smile fall from her.

“Oi James, wait up,” a voice she thought she recognised called, peering round a tree she realised it was Remus.Three of the boys were strolling into the forest, while James had run ahead.

“I’m sure I just saw one, come on.”

“What did you see?”

“A centaur!” he called back over his shoulder. The others began to run after him. Thinking back on her interaction with Firenze and Ronan, Lily realised who Firenze had meant by ‘boys who disturbed the animals of the forest’. With that she wondered if she should confront the boys, get Hagrid to come and chase them out of the forest or if she should just slip around them towards the path. In the end she decided it was best to ignore the group, surely the couldn’t get into too much trouble. She slowly walked in the direction she knew the path to be, being careful to avoid making any undue noise.

It wasn’t long until she found the path and turned onto it in the direction of the caves. A few minutes later she was approaching the caves. There were no unicorns around today, but she investigated each cave, most were quite shallow little more than concaves in the hillock. Only two were deep enough for her to crawl into.

Feeling a little disappointed she moved on up the slope towards the next cave. There was a sense of anticipation as she closed in on the little clearing in front of the caves, something was different today. The odd sensation caused Lily to hesitate before gathering stepping out into the open.

A low-pitched rumble drew her attention it seemed to be emanating from the first cave to her left.She stopped and looked towards the cave. Her heart stopped, and her breath caught in her throat. Wolves! Fear consumed her, and she froze, nothing could save her now, no one knew she was here, for the first time she hoped desperately that the boys would come tumbling along the path and breaking the silence scare the wolves away. A rumour flitted across her mind, were these wolves descended from werewolves? If so they were allegedly more intelligent than ordinary wolves.

They stood watching her as she watched them, the Alpha male growling occasionally, she listened closely to the noise. It was strange, but it didn’t seem like he was about to attack, it was more a warning. She contemplated this and slowly knelt down, dropping her eyes to the ground in front of her. The growls ceased, and he tipped his head to the side and sniffed the air as if curious. He approached her slowly, continuing to sniff, it took all of her efforts to remain still.

Suddenly words formed in her brain in a gruff male voice, ‘Not like the others!’

‘No definitely not like the others’ came a second voice that was definitely female and it was definitely amused.

‘How am I not like the others?’ she thought.

‘You hear us!’ the first voice seemed shocked, curious and ever so slightly affronted. 

‘You smell strange,’ a third voice noted, it sounded younger than the others who had spoken.

‘Sorry,’ Lily thought.

‘No you smell….familiar,’ a fourth voice.

‘Yes, a hint of unicorn, and a hint of Hagrid I think,’ the second voice commented sagely .

‘I was just with Hagrid but it has been months since I saw unicorns,’ Lily mused.

‘Show us how you saw the unicorns, they hide from the two legged ones,’ commanded the Alpha.

‘Can you see into my mind?’ Lily was shocked.

‘When you choose to share, like now, yes,’ the second voice was clearly an older female.

Lily settled herself on the ground and closed her eyes, picturing in her mind, the meeting with the unicorns, which finished when the stallion had tapped her head in a kind of benediction.

‘Blessed by the stallion! You are indeed different. Who are you?’ another older female asked.

‘My name is Lily,’ she opened her eyes to meet the gaze of the Alpha had drawn closer while her eyes were closed, she quickly averted her gaze and unconsciously tilted her head to the side. He moved closer now still and sniffed again. Then he did something very unexpected and licked the same spot on her forehead that had been touched by the unicorn, it took all she had not to flinch.Each of the pack approached and repeated the movement. Lily desperately wanted to wipe a hand across her forehead to remove the saliva but she somehow managed to stay still throughout the very odd benediction.

‘Now you are pack,’ the oldest of the females stated.

‘Is there only one pack?’

‘In this forest, yes, though with the litter it may not remain so.’

‘There is a litter, may I see the pups?’ Lily’s excitement bleed through into her thoughts.

A chuckle sounded in her mind, the oldest of the females replied, ‘You are but a pup, and pups should play together.’ A yipping noise met Lily’s ears, reminding her of the external world. She looked up in time to see four fluffy bundles came bounding and tumbling out of the cave.

‘Oh my! You have handsome pups,’ she said into the quietness of her mind.

No words came, just the feeling of approval and pride. Lily spent an hour rolling on the forest floor with the pups to the amused commentary of the older wolves.

‘Soon we must hunt, and you must return to your castle, pup,’ Lily sighed but saw the wisdom of the statement as the junior female herded the pups back into the cave.

‘I will come back,’ Lily stated.

‘This is good. The pack always comes together,’ acknowledged the leader.

‘Shall I bring food?’

‘Your food will not suit us.’

‘What about meat?’ She received another feeling of approval.

‘The Pack provides.’

‘I’ll see you again, goodbye.’

Lily stood slowly and started walking back along the path towards Hagrid’s hut, she planned to just follow the path to the edge of the forest and trust that Hagrid wouldn’t see her as she emerged and headed back to the castle.

 

Throughout the evening meal Lily pondered how to get meat to the wolves, she wondered if it were possible to find the kitchens. In the end she transfigured her spoon into a box and filled it with chops and steak, picking those pieces that had been cooked rare.Sitting a little way up the table to her left the Marauders noticed her odd behaviour.

“Who knew Evans was such a carnivore,” Sirius joked as he saw her slip another piece of meat into the box she had hidden on her lap.

“Maybe she gets hungry at night?” suggested Peter. It actually wasn’t a bad idea, the short boy thought remembering all the times he had woken up hungry in the middle of the night.

“I can think of better things to take then meat for a midnight snack. Dessert for a start,” Sirius said as it appeared before him. As soon as the sweets arrived on the tables Lily stood up, tucked the box into her bag and headed out of the hall.

“I think she’s up to something,” muttered Remus. “That is not like her at all.”

“Well how about we find out what Miss Goody-two-shoes is up to?” suggested James, they each grabbed a tart from the table and followed Lily out of the hall. She had stopped at the bottom of the stairs and had pulled the box nearly out of her bag; her wand was pointed at it.

“What is she doing?” whispered James peering round a suit of armour.

“Cooling charm,” stated Remus, “Whatever she wants it for she doesn’t want it going off.”

Lily tucked the box back into her bag and made her way up the staircases to the Gryffindor tower, she didn’t stop in the common room but headed straight to her dormitory.

“Well there goes that idea then, she’s just going to eat it up there, boring,” Sirius let himself fall onto a couch.

“She just ate dinner, so I doubt it,” Remus was looking up at the stairs as Lily made her way back to the common room, equipped with quills, parchment and books, and tucked herself onto her favourite window seat and began writing an essay.

“So, if she isn’t eating it what’s she doing with it?”

“Let’s follow her tomorrow and find out, we’ve nothing better to do and we can always hex her if we get bored,” Sirius shrugged.

The next morning the Marauders, knowing that their quarry woke early, headed down to breakfast at seven. Lily was already at the table, the coat she was wearing indicating clearly that she intended spending the day outdoors. They watched as she ate quickly, grabbed her bag and headed out of the hall.Each boy quickly grabbed a muffin and stuffed it with bacon and followed the red head as she walked the path towards the Gamekeepers hut.

“Where the heck is she going?” The boys were surprised when she veered away from the path towards the forest; Lily had decided to decrease the chance of being seen by cutting across the edge of the forest to the western path.

“She is _not_ going into the forest!” exclaimed James in disbelief.

“Who knew Evans was such a rebel!”

“Keep it down or she’ll hear you.” Remus grunted at the others.

The trees loomed overhead, and they found it difficult to see Lily in the early morning gloom. If it hadn’t been for an occasional stray shaft of light that would catch her hair, so they could see a flash of red hair in the distance they would have lost her trail.

“This is impossible,” groaned Peter swatting a brunch that hung across the path.

“How does she know the forest better than us anyway?” Sirius whined.

“She’s probably hoping to cut across to the path we followed when we had detention,” guessed Remus.

It was a matter of meters before their path intersected the track, they turned onto it heading deeper into the forest.

“Hey maybe we will get to see the unicorns this time.” Peter sounded excited at the prospect.

“You’re such a girl Pete,” laughed Sirius scornfully.

“Hey! Mum always told me that seeing unicorns was lucky,” Peter protested.

The first group of caves were devoid of life and there was no sign of their quarry, so they trouped on up the slope. It had been fifteen minutes since they had last caught a glimpse of Lily.

 

Lily had hurried up the slope not stopping at the caves as she had the strangest feeling that she was being followed. Stepping into the clearing in front of the wolves’ lair she dropped to her haunches and pulled the box from her bag.

‘I am back,’ she thought seeking the voices with her mind.

It only took a second for the Alpha to respond, ‘You have bought meat.’ It was a statement not a question.

‘I’m not sure how good it is for you as it has been cooked, and it is now cold, but I am going to see if I can find the kitchens when I get back then I should be able to bring raw meat.’

As he approached her, sniffing at the box in her hand she noted the fur on his back that she had thought to be black was be-speckled with grey. Suddenly he stopped, ‘Someone comes, hide! Into the den pup’

‘Into the Den are you sure?’

‘Quick join the pups!’ he insisted.

With a crouched run she followed him into the largest cave, at the very back of which was rock shelf under which the puppies were hiding.

‘Go under,’ the oldest of the females commanded, as Lily complied the younger females lay down in front of the shelf masking the pups from view while the Alpha and the dominant female stood guard in the shadows at the entrance.

 

The Marauders reached the crest and stopped as they entered the clearing, the Alpha growled deep in the back of his throat, hackles raised.

‘My pack, mine, stay clear’” Lily could hear him say, as she huddled with the pups.

All the boys heard was a growl and they searched the clearing for the source of the noise, finally spying the wolf at the entrance to the cave, teeth bared in clear warning.

James swallowed “M..M..Maybe we should go back? All in favour?”

“Aye,” came the three other voices. James, Peter and Sirius turned and quickly headed back down the slope. Remus paused and looked around, he had seen a box on the ground just at the edge of the clearing, stooping he picked it up, the wolf came out of the cave and sniffed.

‘That one is also a pup,’ came the dominant female’s voice.

‘He’s a werewolf,’ Lily supplied.

‘Is he pack?’ asked a younger female.

‘I thought so last year, but this year he is…different,’.

The male turned back to them for a minute ‘He has the meat.’

‘Shall I go and get it?’

‘No wait, he needs to choose.’

Remus turned back to the cave and noticed the wolf watching him. He was astonished by Lily’s intentions clearly, she had been bringing the food for the wolves! He wondered where she had disappeared to after she had been here? Why did she leave the box behind? He took the lid off the container and put it on the ground and squatted next to it. The wolf did not leave the edge of the cave.

“Here you go; I believe this is for you.”The words were spoken softly, and Remus pushed the container towards the animal.

“What are you doing here Pup?”

Remus felt as though the wolf was trying to speak to him, the golden eyes held so much intelligence, after a moment of contemplation he stood and followed the others back down the path.

“Not pack, but may become so,” was the verdict.

Once he had departed the Alpha allowed the pack to emerge from the cave and Lily spent the rest of the morning tearing off portions of the meat and hand feeding the pups, once it was devoured the elders chewed the bones.

‘I had better go back to the castle.’

‘We will leave this place, now they have found it.’

‘How will I find you?’

‘We are pack, we will find you… later,’ the Alpha was unworried.

Lily got an impression of moons waxing and waning, and knew it would be months before she saw them again. With a sigh she got to her feet and headed back towards the castle. She decided to take the short cut as she was sure that the boys would have alerted Hagrid.

 

Remus caught up to the Marauders as they reached the first cave system.

“So, wonder what Evans was doing then?”

“She was leaving meat for the wolves,” Remus answered Sirius.

“She what?”

“She left the meat for the wolves; the box was on the grass at the edge of the clearing.”

“Well where did she get to?”

“Don’t know, maybe she went further down the path, there’s a stream down there.”

“You think she walked right past those wolves?” Peter seemed terrified at the thought.

“Maybe that was what the meat was for? To keep them occupied so that she could get passed.”

“Except that would mean she knew about the wolves beforehand and the lid was still on the box when I found it,” Remus supplied.

“Doesn’t make any sense,” James frowned.

“Nope, none at all,” Peter agreed.

“Oi! What are you lot doing in ‘ere.” Hagrid was advancing on the boys a bow over one shoulder and some chunks of meat tied together with string over the other.

“Damn!”

“Yer not to come in the forest without a teacher, you know that. I’ll have to report you to McGonagall, now get going.”

“Hagrid, we just followed Evans in, we thought she might get into trouble and need saving.” James tried playing the rescuing heroes to avoid detention.

“Lily?”

“Yes, you know red hair, hangs around with the snake.”

“She can be friends with whoever she likes, and Lily doesn’t break the rules, so I’ll just be reporting you, an’ if you make up any more tales, I’ll report that too, understood,” he looked at them fiercely. He escorted them to the edge of the forest before heading back in to complete his task.

“Perfect, bloody princess Evans, wouldn’t break any rules, she makes me sick,” griped Sirius.

“It’s ok Sirius, we’ll get her back,” assured Peter.

“It'll have to be good, a whole detentions worth of good!”


	7. Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius gets a letter from home. Those naughty boys are up to their tricks again in charms. Remus is feeling torn.

 

A majestic black eagle owl swooped low over the Gryffindor table, dropping the letter it was carrying in front of Sirius Black.

“What are you doing here Medraut?” he murmured grabbing the letter and flipping it over, he looked at the seal endorsing the red wax and he tucked the letter into his pocket to be read later. The eagle owl gave a disgruntled sqwark at the lack of attention and quickly bent to steal half a slice of toast from Sirius’ plate before taking wing.

“Letter from home?” James enquired.

“Yeah something like that.” Sirius gave a small smile as he reached for a piece of bacon.

Lily watched the group as they ate their breakfast and engaged in idle chatter. She wished that she had friends like that. Sev was great but she couldn’t share a meal with him and had only recently managed to persuade him to increase to two study sessions a week, Remus no longer even looked in her direction, and the girls in her dorm had made it abundantly clear that she wasn’t welcome to join them for meals, or for anything else.She noted that Remus was starting to look pale and drawn as the full moon approached and she was glad that he had friends to look out for him.

“Evans is looking this way,” commented James.

“Sticking her nose in where it’s not wanted” was Peter’s opinion.

Remus thought she was probably still trying to figure out what had happened between the meal they had shared at the Leaky Cauldron and the start of school, to make him not want to talk to her, but he had given up trying to talk to the others about it. He determined that he would find her after lessons and explain. Surely she could understand him not wanting to cross his friends, he’d never had a group of friends who had accepted him so readily before and he didn’t want to lose them yet.

“Hey I have an idea of how we can make her pay for getting us that detention!”

“Um, she didn’t really get us a detention, we decided to follow her, and we got caught,” Remus tried to be reasonable. “Hagrid gave us the detention.”

“Well if she hadn’t been acting so suspiciously we would never have followed her,” Sirius commented snidely.

“Why did you care so much where she was going anyhow? It’s not like we have a monopoly on breaking rules or entering the forest,” Remus asked.

“Well we need to make it so we’re the only ones remembered for it, and if she goes into the forest then anyone will think they can and it won’t be special anymore.”

Remus sighed and shook his head, somedays there was no talking to them, his illness had made him grow up before his time and on days like this he felt it, it was the last day before the full moon and he was exceedingly tired. He stood up thinking, the downside of no longer being friends with Lily was he had to do without her notes and no matter how good they were as friends the Marauders note taking abilities left a great deal to be desired and he had to write them out again as the boys couldn’t perform the Gemino curse.

“I’m heading back home for a quick visit today after lessons, I’ll be back the day after tomorrow, can someone take notes for me?” he asked the group.

“Yeah sure,” Peter volunteered waving him away.

“See you later then,” they chorused as he slouched out of the hall.

“Does Remus seem to get sick a lot?” James observed not for the first time.

“Well it’s not just him, so does his Mum,” Sirius replied with a feeling of De ja vu.

“Still I can’t help but wonder what he’s got,” James continued looking in the direction of their departed friend. There were a very limited number of recurring illnesses that a wizard could contract.

 

A couple of seats away Lily smiled as she looked down at her plate, thinking that if they did a little less pranking and a little more study they might have figured out what was wrong with their friend. She grabbed her bag and left for class.

 

Sirius watched her depart before turning to James and Peter.

“Now back to my idea. Like Pete said she always sticks her nose in where it’s not wanted, so how about we make her nose grow. It’s the perfect prank, don’t you think? Engorgio Proboscis should do it.”

“So the question is when and how?”

“We have charms last today, so how about then, it will just look like someone did it by accident.”

“Ok any takers?”

“Yeah, I’ll do it,” James volunteered. “She gets on my nerves for some reason.”

As they followed Remus to class Sirius thought about the letter in his bag, he was grateful he had met the Marauders but he wondered what they would think of him when they found out what his Father had planned **.** As the three boys joined the flow of students departing the hall on their way to class, he decided he would worry about it later.

Flitwick stood on his pile of books at the front of the class, Lily had her head down and was intently writing down everything that the little man said. She was joined at her desk by Nerida Lovegood, whom she and Severus had shared a carriage with on the very first train ride. Nerida had been sorted into Ravenclaw and maintained the same silence she had kept on the train, the pair worked together when required but didn’t exchange any unnecessary banter.

“Alright everyone Quills down, time to try our charm,” the little Professor called out cheerily.

“When should I jinx her?” James hissed to Sirius who was seated beside him.

“How’s your aim? Give it a shot now. Flitwick’s busy.”

“Engorgio Proboscis,” James whispered, wand pointed at Lily from under his desk.

Lily felt her face begin to tingle and then ache, soon her vision was impaired as her nose grew. “Ow!” she exclaimed.

“Miss Evans ! Really if you can’t be quiet….” The professor turned his head and observed her “Oh my…Reducio Proboscai ”he waved his wand and her swollen nose began to reduce. “Whatever happened Miss Evans I have never known you to fail a spell.”

“I just said the incantation as you did and .. it happened”

“Well show me dear.”

“Diffindo,”she waved her wand and a piece was cut off the rope that lay in front of her, behind her James muttered the spell again and began to giggle as her nose grew.

“Reducio Proboscai,” Flitwick again said

“Now what are you concentrating on when you say the incantation?” he asked kindly noticing that his favourite student was quickly becoming upset.

“Just as you said, that a piece should be cut from the end of the rope. Look!” she held up the pieces that had been cut off the end.

“Once more then.” Lily repeated the charm and again her nose began to grow, she was now just about in tears, the charm itself was working, just apparently her nose grew at the same time.

The four boys at the back of the classroom where now in fits of laughter, tears streaming from their eyes.

“Maybe you’re just no good at magic Evans,” called out Peter.

“Maybe you should just go and join those losers in Slytherin,” added Sirius.

“That’s enough!” snapped Professor Flitwick looking furious. He couldn’t understand what was occurring, Lily’s wand action and enunciation were perfect, and the charm was working, he reduced her nose once more and then excused her to see Madam Pomfrey for a calming draught, giving her instructions to come and see him for some private tutoring when she was feeling better. It was at the end of class when he had a moment to think that he realised what had been going on, unfortunately by then there was no chance of catching the culprit.

 

“Did you see her face!” Sirius couldn’t contain himself after the lesson ended. Remus was haunted by the look of despair on Lily’s face.

“I’ve got to go,” he excused himself as Sirius, James and Peter headed to the Great Hall for Tea, laughing as they went.

 

Remus opened the door to the hospital wing, he saw Lily lying in a bed, her face red and eyes swollen from her tears.

“Hey Lily,” he whispered his greeting.

She opened her eyes and seemed shocked to see him.

“Hey Remus,” she sniffled.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been talking to you,” he apologised.

“What did I do wrong? Did I say something to upset you?” tears began forming in her eyes again.

“No, it’s..it’s the boys,” he kept his eyes on the floor looking guilty and distressed.

“Why? What did I do to them?”

“Nothing, they just don’t like that you are friends with Snape and they said if I talk to you they won’t be my friends anymore. I never had any friends before,” he sounded hopeless.

Lily bit her lip, she knew exactly how he felt. “It’s ok Remus, I never had any friends before Sev either, so I won’t hold it against you.” She gave him a weak sad smile.

“Why did you get so upset in class?” he looked up at her.

“Because I couldn’t do it right. Remus. I come from a Muggle family, I feel like I don’t belong here as it is. I’m trying so hard to make the most of the opportunity, but when I fail so completely at something then I wonder if I shouldn’t just go home, especially when people make comments like Peter did.”

“Um, Lily you know you were doing the spell right? And it worked and everything.”

“No-one else was horribly disfigured when they did it, just me Remus, so I must have been doing something wrong.”

“Yeah about that,” he looked back down at his shoes. “That was James.”

“What?” He winced at her high pitched exclamation.

“James was casting Engorgio Proboscis on you at the same time you were doing the spell.” He rubbed the back of his neck as his face went red.

“So I did the spell ok?” she sounded relieved.

“Yeah it was just them being stupid again.”

“I wish I knew why they hated me so?”

“They don’t like Snape,” he said again.

“But that is no reason to pick on me.”

“I know, look I’ll try to say Hi when I can ok, I don’t want to not talk to you, but….” he shrugged.

“It’s ok I get it Remus,” she cut him off and turned away.She looked up as he moved towards Madam Pomfrey. Madam Pomfrey noticed Lily seemed calmer and indicated that is was alright for her to leave. As she was walking out the door Remus heard her softly say:

“I get it, you just don’t want to talk to the freak.”

But he couldn’t think about that now, he could only focus on the steadily increasing pain in his bones.

 

Remus’ eyes fluttered open, sun streamed in from the window behind his bed, he turned his head to the side and observed the folded paper bird and chocolate frog, a smile played on his lips, he should really thank Madam Pomfrey for her kindness.

“Now how are you feeling this morning?” Pomfrey approached his bed.

“Ok I guess, no worse than usual at any rate.”

“Good, here are your potions, take them straight away and then get some rest,” she put the phials down and began to move away.

“Madam Pomfrey?”

“Yes Remus.” The healer turned back around.

“Thanks for the chocolate frog.”

She looked at him blankly “I didn’t leave you a chocolate frog dear.”

“Oh, it’s just there is one here every morning when I get back,” he was puzzled. “You didn’t see who left it? I should thank them.”

“No. It wasn’t there when I walked down to collect you, when we got back you went to sleep and I went into my office.”

“Did anyone come in?”

“Not that I saw. It looks like you have a good friend Remus.”

“Yeah.” He just didn’t have a clue who it was.

 

Sirius had walked up the stairs to the astronomy tower, he wanted to be alone, it was time he read the letter from his Father. He pulled it out of his bag and broke the seal.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Your Mother has been speaking with Abraxus Malfoy who has indicated you are beginning to show your upbringing in the treatment of the filth who have been allowed to attend Hogwarts. I am most pleased with this development, encouraging your friends to join you in these endeavours is a step forward in our plans, and for the first time I can say that you are a behaving like a Black._

Sirius paused for a moment to consider, Evans was a Muggle-born but that wasn’t why they picked on her. They had hexed Lexi Turpin too, they had made her hair grow at a hundred times the normal rate, it was hilarious.Was she a Muggle-born? Sirius didn’t know. He shrugged, oh well if it saved him punishment when he got home then that was an added bonus.

_You are expected home these holidays and should invite Potter and Pettigrew to stay so we can discuss matters with them. If you require further direction be sure to ask Lucius Malfoy for advice, he has been instructed to provide you with whatever guidance you require._

_Orion Black._

Well inviting Pete and James for Christmas would make the house less dreary, but was it worth it to have them meet his parents? No. Did he actually want to try and convince them of Pureblood Superiority? No, he knew it to be a farce.He would lie and say he had asked and they had declined, Peter always went to see his Mother and James would go home anyway. Sirius drafted his reply stating that he would ask his friends to visit and advise when he had their replies. Looking up at the sky he considered the Marauder manifesto which said there would be no secrets between Marauders, but he wasn’t ready to share this one; that time would come just not yet, when he was sure he wouldn’t lose his friends over it.

Lily looked up as the Marauders walked into the great hall, they exuded confidence. They strutted over to the Gryffindor table and took their places for breakfast. She wondered what it felt like to know where you belonged, to have such confidence. 

“Oi Evans, don’t you know it’s rude to stare.” A rough voice cut through her thoughts and she turned to the speaker. It was Alison.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to I was just in my own world,” she mumbled.

“I don’t know why you don’t just eat at the Slytherin table, seeing as you like them so much!” Alison flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. “Nobody wants you here.”

“I’m quite happy to have Evans here actually.” Gideon sat down on the bench beside her. “I happen to know she’s gained more points for Gryffindor than all the other second years combined.” He smiled at Lily. “You alright Squirt?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Lily nodded her head, still concentrating on her plate.

“Quidditch try outs are this weekend, are you going to come and watch? Fabe and I were on the team last year and Doc always comes to watch, you could keep him company?”

“Did you say Quidditch try outs?” James interrupted from his place further up the table.

“Yep this Saturday start at 10, let Madam Hooch know if you wish to fly.”

“Isn’t it late for tryouts?”

“Yeah about a fortnight later than usual. Our Captain had to go home for a wedding and so the opening match was put back this year, so we have a bit of time.”

“What positions are you looking for?” James half stood and half slid up the bench until he was sitting next to Gideon.

“Well you would have to check with the Captain, but I think Em was going to make everyone try out again, at least that’s what she did last year.”

“Is Em the Captain? Who is she?”

“Yep Emmeline Vance she’s Captain. She’s the blonde with the braid sitting down the table next to Kingsley Shacklebolt,” the red-head pointed her out.

“So if she was only going to fill vacant spots what positions are needed?”

“Well we lost a chaser, and our keeper, so if everyone who was in gets back in we’ll need two.”

“What’s Quidditch?” Lily was hesitant to ask.

“What’s Quidditch? You really are a dumb bird aren’t you?” chortled James Lily blushed and ducked her head again thinking how little she fitted into this world. Remus noticed her movement and resolved to make an effort to study with her occasionally, so the Marauders weren’t supposed to keep secrets, well it was only studying surely that wouldn’t hurt, but then again if he got found out..…

“Oi! Not her fault she isn’t a pure blood like you.” Fabian had joined them sitting on the opposite side of the table to Gideon and looked at James with disgust. “Don’t worry Squirt,” he reassured her, “we’ll get Doc to explain it all at the trials, they go for hours, so you’ll have plenty of time.”

Both Sirius and James resolved that they would try out for the Quidditch team, and told anyone who would listen how great they were going to be.They hurried away leaving their breakfast half-finished in order to find Madam Hooch and put their names down.

 

Severus walked down the stairs from the dormitory into the eerie green light of the common room, he was headed to the library to meet up with Lily.

“Where are you headed Snape?” drawled the voice of Mulciber

“Library.”

“I don’t think Malfoy would be happy with that,” the burly boy stated.

“Is it any of his business?” Severus tried to remain nonchalant.

“It is when you are going to meet up with that Mudblood,” Mulciber sneered.

“Who says I am? We have a Transfiguration Essay due.”

“Keep going and that Mudblood will be the death of you,” Mulciber said threateningly.

“Really, you’re threatening me over homework?”

“Essays can wait,” cut in the nasal voice of Malfoy. “We have a lesson to complete. Smallest dungeon now!”

Severus sighed as he followed the other boys from the common room, and hoped that the lesson wouldn’t take long or that Lily at least would be forgiving.

 

Lily made her way to the library, it had felt good to have Gideon and Fabian stand up for her, but it also highlighted how much she still didn’t know about the wizarding world. She sighed as she sat down at her desk, and pulled out her parchment. Severus would surely be able to come and see her today.

Two hours later, she knew he wasn’t coming, it had clearly been too difficult for him to get away. A shadow fell over her Transfiguration essay on turning birds into water goblets.

“Hi.”

“I thought you weren’t com….” she started to say as she looked up, her look of delighted surprise made Remus smile.

“I thought I would sneak down and study with you, the others are all busy, so…”

“As long as you won’t get into trouble,” she said, genuinely concerned.

“Hmm if they catch me, probably, but I didn’t really want to stop talking to you in the first place.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t do anything wrong,” she smiled shyly.

“What are you working on?”

“The transfiguration essay. What do you have to work on?”

“The same, and the herbology essay.”

“Oh I’ve done that one, here,” she slid a book towards him, flicked it open to the correct page and turned it to face him, as he sat down opposite her. “Covers the Venomous Tentacula fairly comprehensively.”

A few minutes passed as they each focused on the work in front of them.

“So are you going to try out for the Quidditch team?” Lily asked the blonde.

“No, I get sick too often, but I’ll go and watch. You?” Remus replied.

“Yeah,” she laughed then added sarcastically “Because after last year I want to hop on a broom again.”

“You should try it again, it’s not that bad.”

“Flying upside down into a tree and ending up with concussion, isn’t too bad! I think I’ll pass,” she laughed.

“Well to be fair, it wasn’t really your fault. I flew into the Quidditch posts and I’ve flown again since.”

“It must be your wizard blood, I think I’ll keep my feet on the ground where it is safer.”

“Well it’s your choice, but I thought you were doing alright until they pushed your broom, don’t let them put you off.”

“Maybe,” she frowned and turned back to her work.

When they work was done the pair packed up and left the library, a thought struck Lily as they reached the door.

“I.. um.. just wanted to borrow a book for ….defence. Don’t wait it’s probably best if your friends don’t see us come back at the same time anyhow,” she smiled at him.

“Ok,” Remus agreed with a smile smiled and swiftly departed.

Right thought Lily, if Remus was willing to risk going against his friends and getting in trouble, then surely she could go to the effort of finding someway to help him.She dumped her bag back on her usual desk and headed into the shelves. Another hour passed and she was still no closer to her goal.

“I’m closing up now, it’s nearly curfew, out you go,” called Madam Pince as she started to extinguish the lamps.

Lily sighed she had discovered nothing of importance. She glanced at the closed off area of the library. The only clue she had found was a vague reference to Werewolves exclusively stalkinghumans in _A Guide to Banishing Werewolves_ by Argentum Hunter. She sighed, maybe something would come to her, if not there was always the restricted section, though that would be a night time excursion as it was unlikelythat she would be able to convince one of the professors to sign a permission slip for her. She sighed as she put away her books and left for the common room.


	8. Quidditch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As it says on the tin.

 

Fortunately for those participating, due to the lateness of the tryouts and a clash with the first Hogsmeade visit of the year, fewer people than usual attended the Quidditch pitch the following Saturday. No more than twenty hopefully individuals were standing in a group in the middle of the field as Emmeline prepared to start, and only ten keen observers sat in the stands watching.

“Alright so, this might seem to be a bit antiquated but, endurance is key in Quidditch. So to begin with I want to see how quickly you can make two circuits of the Quidditch pitch.” Sirius and James began to mount their brooms.

“Oi, leg it!” they stopped and looked confused, the older students grinned.

“She means run, not fly,” Gideon supplied.

“Ooh,” the group groaned as they took off.

Once they had all made their way back to their starting point for the second time, Emmeline noted their various states of breathlessness down on a clip board.

“Right mount up, and fly around the pitch five times, I’ll be seeing who’s the fastest.”

Alexandria Wood was the first to return and was quickly followed by James and Sirius, their smaller size being a distinct advantage. Emmeline then divided them into groups for the positions they were trying out for and began a series of drills. Sirius and James not caring what position they played and full of youthful confidence that they would be brilliant at them all, decided they would try out for all the positions.

“Alright we’ll start with chasers, pair up and grab a quaffle. You’ll fly from one end of the pitch to the other with your partner, tossing the quaffle between you, whoever is holding it at the end is to try and shoot it through the hoop, understood. Oh, and a different person needs to shoot for each pass. McFinlay you get up and defend the hoops.”

Fabian was paired up with James and the pair worked seamlessly, they passed the quaffle twenty times between ends, and scored on every try.Meanwhile Sirius was paired with Marlene McKinnon, the pair couldn’t seem to find a rhythm and kept dropping the quaffle, though Sirius did manage to score half a dozen times.

In the stands Lily turned to Doc.

“So, what are the positions and what do they do?” she ignored the snickering she could hear coming from two rows behind her where Peter was sitting.

“Well see the ball they have out now?” she nodded “Well that’s the quaffle, the chasers, of which there are three, try and throw the quaffle through the hoops to score goals, which are worth ten points each.”

“Ok,”

“So next Em will probably move onto the tryouts for keeper, the keeper defends the goals to stop the other team from scoring points.”

The group in the field congregated briefly in the middle of the pitch before a lone player flew to the front of the hoops while a further three grabbed a quaffle and took off.

“So, kind of like the goalie in football, yeah?” Lily asked eyes on the pitch where Fabian successfully scored. The boy defending the goal shook his head despondently as he was called back to the pitch and replaced by James.

“Um, football?”

“It’s a muggle sport, they kick the ball along the ground and each team tries to get it into the oppositions net, the player guarding the net is called the goalie.”

“Ah, ok, much the same then. So, if you have a look, the trial is seeing which player keeps out the most goals, doesn’t look like it is Potter’s position though,” he commented grimacing as the dark haired boy moved in completely the wrong direction and the quaffle passed through the hoop.

“So that’s chasers and keepers, who’s next?” Lily asked as the group converged on the ground again.

“Well that would be the beaters, there are two per side. Look, see the ball they are getting out now.”

Lily squinted to see a ball that was straining at the straps that were holding it down.

“It looks a bit violent!”

“It is, causes quite a few injuries, that is a bludger.The beaters use their bats and hit the bludgers at the opposing team’s players to try and distract them.”

“I think it would be quite frightening to have that thing being belted at you while you were trying to balance on a rather thin branch.” Doc laughed, as they watched the beaters hitting the bludger back and forwards across a circle.

“How did you find your flying lesson last year?” Doc asked with a sideways glance at the red-head.

Lily was silent for a moment “Pretty horrendous actually, I ended up in the hospital wing.”

“What happened?”

“James and Sirius.”

“Well I need a bit more information than that.” he smiled reassuringly at her.

“Well I was doing ok, I think, and had gotten in the air and started on a lap around the pitch, when they came out of no-where and pushed the bristles on my broom so I went, bristles over handle, I had just managed to stabilise it, when they came round again and pushed my broom to make it spin, and I lost control and ended up hitting a tree, after colliding with most of the class. Then they came to the hospital wing just to laugh at me the next day.”

Doc turned to the small girl wearing a frown at his side “Well it actually sounds like you were doing pretty well, not everyone can stabilise a cartwheeling broom.”

“Maybe, but now I’m… kind of….afraid, to try again,” being a Gryffindor she was a bit ashamed of the fact.

“Well when you get up the courage to give it another go, Fabe, Gid and I can help.”

“Thanks,” she smiled “but for now I’d like to keep my feet on the ground.” They turned back to the try outs.

“Sirius isn’t bad with his beaters bat,” noted Doc “but I don’t think he is going to quite make it this year, Gid and Kings are too good.”

“So, we have covered Chasers, Beaters and Keepers is that all?”

“Nope there is one last position and one more ball, the ball is winged, small and golden, damn fast and nigh impossible to see, it’s called the snitch. The last player is the Seeker, it is the seekers job to catch the snitch. When the snitch is caught it is worth one hundred and fifty points and the game ends.”

“Will they release one now?”

“Probably not, see they have golf balls there, they’ll throw them out and see who can get to them the fastest.”

“Who was on the Team last year?”

“Well Fabe and Benjy were chasers, Gid and Kingsley beaters and Em the seeker. By the looks they should all be back this year.”

“Potter seemed to perform well,” Lily noted.

“Yeah I think Dorcas will be Keeper and if Em leaves the others the same then Potter might get the last Chaser spot though Alexandria Kettle was pretty good too.”

They left the stands together and joined Gideon and Fabian in the middle of the pitch. Lily wrinkled up her nose as they approached.

“Does Quidditch always smell this bad?” she asked Doc.

“Unfortunately,” he laughed. “So boys how did you go?” he asked as he approached Gideon on the edge of the mass of players.

“Shh, Em’s about to say.” Emmeline stepped up onto the box used to confine the balls, so she was visible above the small gathering.

“Listen up!” she called. “Congratulations everyone it was a good tryout. If you didn’t make it this year, keep practicing and we’ll see you next year. There’s not much change so I’m not going to post it. Last year’s team members all get to stay, and we’ll add Dorky as Keeper and Potter you’re our new chaser.”

James yelled and jumped onto Sirius who tried to look excited for his friend while containing his own disappointment.

“Ok, settle down Potter. I’m also naming two subs Alex you for Chaser and Black you for beater. First practice is tomorrow straight after lunch. Got it! If you miss practice you’re off the team. Now,” She mimed sniffing the air, “get to the showers you lot stink!”

Lily and Doc waited outside the locker rooms for Gideon and Fabian to appear. Ten minutes later they emerged hair faintly damp from their showers in the company of Benjy Fenwick.

“Squirt, this is Benjy Fenwick also a third year,” Fabian introduced a brown-haired boy with sparkling brown eyes.

“Nice to meet you Benjy, good flying today,” Lily congratulated him.

“Was alright I guess, chasers not bad though I think I might like Beater better, still there’s always next year,” he grinned, not at all disappointed with the results.

“What do think of Quidditch now you’ve been introduced?” Fabian asked Lily as the group walked back to the castle.

“It all looks a bit dangerous if you ask me, all those balls flying around!”

“You’re just chicken Evans,” Sirius jibbed as he and James jogged past.

“Argh they infuriate me!” she grumbled quietly.

“Annoying gits,” agreed Fabian. “Still they fly well enough” he said with a shrug as if that excused their behaviour. “How are you finding lessons this year?”

“They’re ok, I love potions and charms. Transfiguration seems the hardest, but it’s kind of cool.”

“Wait till next year when McGonagall starts the year by turning into a cat,” he chuckled.

“She what?” the thought cartwheeled through Lily’s mind.

“Well not to spoil it for you, but you’ll come in to your first lesson and she’ll there’ll be a cat sitting on the desk and then the next thing you know there’s McGonagall. It’s really cool.”

“Wow,” Lily was thinking fast, “and do we learn how to do that next year?” Fabian laughed.

“Ah no!” he wiped tears from his eyes. “sSe’s an animagus, it’s really difficult to do, I believe she was the youngest person to ever achieve the transformation in England, she was seventeen, Dumbledore taught her how to do it!”

“Oh,” at least it was a lead thought Lily. “I forgot, congratulations on making the team, you too Gid!”

“Thanks Squirt,” and they entered the castle for lunch.

 

Lily searched the library- animals, animations, animagus.

“Ah-ha!” she pulled a book off the shelf. _The Story of the Animagus_ _by Adrian Tutley_. She quickly signed it out and hurried back to the Gryffindor tower.

“Whatcha reading Squirt?” a red-haired boy asked her as he flopped down next to her.Lily held up the book, so he could read the cover.

“Interesting, not usual second year material,” he asked curiously.

She blushed “Well Fabe mentioned today about McGonagall so I thought I would read up on it. It sounded really interesting.”

She tucked her feet up to make more room for him on her window seat. He shivered as he leant back against the cold glass.

“It’s a bit cold in your corner of the world Lily.”

“Winter’s coming Gid, and that’s why most people leave this corner alone and I can have peace and quiet when I don’t feel like going to the library. I can always add another jumper if I need to warm up,” she smiled at him.

“Is that your way of telling me to go away?” he raised an eyebrow.

“No, you’re alright Gid, just Potter and his Marauders, they get a bit loud and obnoxious for me sometimes. I’m not used to it. It’s so much quieter at home.”

He laughed, “well, I’ll leave you to it, I have a killer essay for Defence that’s due in two days, I don’t know why I left it so late,” he stood and grabbed his bag and headed to the library as she returned to her book.

The book was interesting and enlightening but in no way helpful for any sort of attempt at trying the transformation, which was probably why it was readily available in the library and not locked up in the restricted section. Lily was sure that this was the solution to her problem.However, the book did not give any clues how it could be done or where to find that information. It did advise that the process was somewhat dangerous and always conducted under the supervision of a mentor. She wondered if McGonagall would consent to teaching her- probably not at twelve! There had to be another way of getting more information. Maybe her Dad would take her to Diagon Alley in holidays and she could see if there was anything in Flourish and Blotts, or, her mind supplied slyly, there was still the restricted section. It was getting late and the library would be closing soon, but she could hide under the desk in the back corner and wait for Pince to leave and then have the uninterrupted hours of the night to peruse. She picked up the book and headed out of the portrait hole at a run.

 

“Where is Evans heading in such a rush?” James asked as he watched her leave.

“Library?” guessed Sirius.

“Probably wants to make it there and back before curfew,” added Remus glancing up from the game of Gobstones he was playing against Peter.

“Suppose we should start the Charms Essay that’s due Monday,” sighed Peter, as he lost the game in spectacular fashion.

“Not until you’ve showered at any rate,” James chuckling at his friend’s ink covered face.

 

Lily held her breath as she waited crouched beneath a table at the back of the library as Madam Pince snuffed out all the lamps and locked the door. As the click echoed through the room Lily emerged from her hiding place, lit her wand and softly walked to the restricted section, muttering to herself.

“Ok, Animagus…..under magical creatures, or transfiguration or charms, let’s try _Advanced Transfiguration Through the Ages by Emetic Switch_.” She gently lifted the book down from the shelf and flicked through the pages.

“Animagus- a means of transforming oneself into an animal, not general used in European society but favoured by African wizards. A process involving prolonged exposure to mandrake leaf, a potion and a self-transfiguration combination charm spell. Due to the intensity of the procedure, in Britain the process is monitored and those who are successful are required to be registered with the Ministry of Magic.” Again, there were no instructions, Lily sighed, as she looked at the book.Noting the small numbers beside the passage. She flicked to the back of the book and found the references, quickly noting them down. _Exemplary Self Transfiguration techniques and Guidelines_ _by Morgan Le Fay_ and _Potions Pour Les Animaux_ _by Lisette de Lapin._ Lily searched the shelves eventually finding both volumes and putting them in her bag. Now she just had to make it back to the tower without being caught!

“Alohomora,” she whispered to unlock the library door and “Colloportus,” as she closed it behind her with a faint click. She walked as quietly as possible through the corridors stopping frequently to listen for the Prefects who were doing rounds. Fortunately, she didn’t cross paths with any of them and eventually she stood facing the Portrait of the Fat Lady, who very sternly asked her what she was doing out so late.

“I fell asleep in the library,” she said and gave a fake yawn.“Que Serra,” the portrait swung open and Lily tiptoed into the empty common room, then up the stairs to her dormitory where she stowed the books under her bed. Hopefully she would have time to read them soon.

 

Mid November arrived and with it the Gryffindor vs Slytherin quidditch match.The team had been practicing three afternoons a week and returned to the common room afterwards tired, often covered in mud (and Lily wondered how that happened during an airborne game?) but happy with James bragging about how well the team would do this year to anyone who would listen.

 

Sitting at the Gryffindor table the morning of the first match he looked a lot less confident then he had appeared after practice the night before, in fact his face was decidedly green.

“Oi Potter! You going to fly today or just throw up?” Nott and Avery laughed as he entered the Great Hall.

“Ignore them,” Sirius muttered to his friend, “You’ll be brilliant.”

“Easy for you to say. They haven’t been throwing hexes at you all week.”

“Chin up Potter, jelly legs won’t affect you once you’re in the air,” Lily joked as she passed taking a place further up the table.

He looked up at her for a moment, a smile beginning to form on his lips before….

“Shut it Evans,”

Lily’s smile dropped, and she turned away from Sirius’ aggressive response.

“I think she was just joking Sirius,” James said quietly.

“She shouldn’t talk to us, she’s only going to support Slytherin anyhow,” the boy hissed loudly, knowing the girl would overhear.

“Am not!” Lily defended herself. “I was going to come and support my house but if I’m not wanted I’ll just go do something else,” she quickly grabbed a slice of toast from the table and left the hall in a huff.

“Who upset Squirt?” Doc asked as he and the Prewitt brothers sat down at the table. There was a pause.

“Your silence isn’t very reassuring gentlemen.” Gideon added “You guys are too hard on her by half, maybe you should consider what it might be like coming from the muggle world into all of this,” his waved hand encompassed the hall.

“She’s a spoilt little princess who has everyone under her spell and gets whatever she wants and needs to be taken down a peg or two, and she has never had to work for anything in her life!” Sirius ground out through his teeth.

“And how much time have you spent with her to come up with this opinion?” Fabian asked calmly ignoring the attitude.

“Doesn’t matter, she hangs around that snake all day, she isn’t loyal to Gryffindor!” he spat.

“I’ll agree her choice of mates might not be the best, but why should that bother you? She isn’t trying to get you to hang around with him. She earns points for Gryffindor and she is happy to support Gryffindor in matches. So where’s the problem?”

“Um, used to agree to support,” Remus contributed in his quiet manner, “I think she has been made to feel her support is not welcome at the match, so she is going to support the library instead.”

“You lot are right foul Gits!” Gideon growled.

“Team! Time to head out,” Emmeline called up the table, effectively putting a stop to the impending disagreement and the team stood as one and headed to the locker rooms.

“Doc do you want to find Squirt and see if she will come?” Gideon said to his friend,as he followed the team out the door.

 

Doc was unable to find Lily as she had sequestered herself in her dormitory under the bed and dragged the books she had removed from the library towards her, opening _Potions Pour Les Animaux._ After half an hour reading she scrounged in her bag for a pencil and began noting the procedure for mixing the Animagus potion.There were several ingredients that were going to be difficult to get hold of. She might have to resort to stealing them from Slughorn’s supplies if the Apothecary didn’t do Owl order. Not to forget the leaf of the mandrake which needed to be taken beforehand. Though she had heard a rumour that Madam Pomfrey had taken a delivery of several mandrakes and had given them to the Herbology teacher who was attempting to get them to sprout, the leaves should be at the right stage late in January if they were successful.She took her list and headed down to the dungeons determined to gather the ingredients while the rest of the school was watching Quidditch. She would make the potion over the holidays and take the mandrake as soon as the first leaves unfurled, with any luck she would be an animagus by Easter!

 

Doc forced his way through the crowds in the stands to a spare seat amongst the other Gryffindors. Gideon looked up at him from the pitch and raised an eyebrow, in return Doc shrugged and raised a clenched fist with thumb extended pointing at the ground.

“She didn’t want to come then?” Remus asked.

“Course she didn’t, she’s a ruddy snake,” snarled Sirius.

“Would you stop it with that, you’re acting like a Slytherin yourself!” Doc shot a disgusted look at Sirius.“I couldn’t find her, actually. She’s a sweet kid; I don’t see what your problem is.”

“Our problem is she likes Snivellus!” said Peter.

“Again, I fail to see the problem, so he’s a dead beat, but your own cousin was in Slytherin so don’t give me all that either. She has it tough enough being picked on by the Slytherins, she doesn’t need it from her own house too!” with that he deemed the conversation over and turned back to watch as the Captains shook hands, and Madam Hooch instructed them to mount their brooms.

“Three… two…one…peeeep,” the whistle blew, and the players kicked into flight.

James flew to his appointed place seamlessly catching the Quaffle passed by Fabian and off-loading it towards Benjy who scored.

“Fenwick scores the first try of the match ten -zero Gryffindor,” called the commentator.

James dodged a bludger hit by the Slytherin beater, to grab the Quaffle intercepting the Slytherin’s pass. Sped to the Goals and scored. The match passed in a blur as he concentrated on two things, the Quaffle and the Goal posts, an hour later he heard the commentator call over the cheers of the crowd.

“And Meadows catches the snitch! Final score 230-50 Gryffindor wins!” James was ecstatic as he flew to the ground and entered the team huddle.

“I’m pleased with how we played today, but don’t become complacent. We’ll continue to have a practice every week on Wednesday afternoons, until Christmas, after the holidays we’ll up the intensity again. Showers, then there’ll be a small party in the common room,” Emmeline congratulated her team.

Lily climbed through the portrait hole with her bulging bag at her side expecting it to be empty.

“Did you see that pass, so smooth, straight from Fabe and into the goal, in one movement!” The excited voice of James Potter met her ears over the general hubbub of the room. She sighed and made her way to the staircase.

“Oi Evans, we won, did you see?” he called as he spotted her making her way through the room.

“Congratulations, I’m sure you all did very well” she gave a tiny smile as she kept walking.

“See no house pride, what did I tell you,” Sirius wrapped his arm around James shoulders.

“I don’t know she seemed happy we won. Did you see her bag though?”

“Seemed quite…full!” commented Peter.

“Maybe it’s more food to take to the wolves,” murmured Remus.

“Or maybe it is something else, she is definitely dodgy!”

“Sirius we are not following her again, it got us into trouble last time,” Remus said firmly.

“But Remus!” the silver-eyed boy whined.

Remus sighed “alright if she heads out again, I’ll follow, but only because I think she’ll actually be going to the library and I need to write up Slughorn’s Essay anyway.”

Not five minutes later, Lily emerged from the dormitories with a much lighter bag and headed out the portrait hole.

“Ok I’m on it,” Remus groaned, quickly grabbed his bag and followed. As he suspected she went straight to the library, where he joined her to finish off the weeks work.

“So how was Quidditch today?” she asked.

“Yeah it was pretty good, James flew well and as I am sure you could tell, we won.”

“I’m sure he did, he did well at the try outs.”

“You don’t hate him then?” Remus seemed mildly surprised.

“Hate is a strong word, I don’t but I don’t like him either. I can appreciate that he is good at something”

“You’re a very forgiving person, aren’t you?”

“Well Dad always said, that people who are bullies often have their own problems. It doesn’t excuse their behaviour, but it helps me to think it might not be my fault. Sirius, for example, his whole family have been in Slytherin right? I imagine he probably cops it at home. I think that is why he dislikes that I’m friends with Sev. I think a small part of him wishes that is where he was, so his family would accept him, but a large part doesn’t, because he doesn’t like his family’s views, so he is conflicted and doesn’t know what to do about it, so he takes it out on me.”

Remus looked at her dumbfounded “You really think his family….”

She looked at him “I do, have you seen the way his Mother treats him on the platform?”

“I can’t say that I’ve noticed.”

“Well keep an eye out next time. Not that it is any of my business, that’s stuff he’ll share with you guys when he is ready.”

“So, what did you do today then?”

“Well seeing as I wasn’t wanted down at the pitch I just did some practice for potions.”

“That seems a bit boring.”

“Well I had nothing better to do.”

 

Remus opened the door to the dormitory to see the other three boys playing exploding snap.

“Hey, so where did she go?”

“Library, I did ask what she did today, and she said she practiced the potion we’re learning after the break.”

“Doesn’t explain why her bag was so full.”

“Just her extra potions books, and she has a note book where she writes down ideas on how to improve the potions.”

“What are you doing for the holidays this year?” Sirius changed the subject.

“I’m staying here,” Remus stated.

“Home for Mum’s plum pudding,” Peter smacked his lips together.

“Home for the annual Christmas Gala,” added James “and you?”

“My parents have stated that my presence is required at home.” Sirius thought for a moment then grimaced, “actually I need to send them a letter.” He stood and quickly grabbed some parchment and scrawled a quick note.

 

_Dear Father,_

_I regret to inform you that both Peter and James have prior engagements over the holidays and will be unable to join us._

_Sincerely_

_Sirius_

__

He folded it and headed to the owlery.Severus was just tying a note to the leg of one of the school’s owls, when Sirius opened the door.

“Hello Snivellus.” Sirius stood blocking the doorway.

“Black,” Severus spat in response.

“Touchy, touchy.”

“If you would be so kind to step aside I wish to leave.”

“Sure,” Sirius smirked, and stepped forwards, giving Severus a push that sent him tumbling to the ground amidst the owl droppings, he laughed as Severus picked himself up and wiped his hands on his now filthy robes. “Might want to get cleaned up before you see Evans again.”

Severus glared at him as he turned and left.


	9. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas time. A little peek into the life of Sirius Black. Lily goes to the ball, but it's not all fun and games, however there is dancing.

 

Lily was waiting in the library for Severus. She had seen him that morning in Potions and he had assured her that he wouldn’t stand her up again. As she had completed all the work that they had due in the next week she was not at the desks as usual but was sitting in a cushioned armchair in the furthest corner of the library with her legs thrown over one arm of the chair and her back against the other, she leaned her head against the back of the chair as she read.

“What are you reading?” the sallow faced boy asked as he approached.

“The Secret Garden,” she replied as she looked up. “How have you been? I’ve finished everything already, so we can just chat.”

“Sounds good,” he sat down on the pouffe next to the chair.

“Are you going home for Christmas?” Lily asked.

“Nah, Mum said I don’t have to, the more time out of the house the better,” Severus shook his head.

“If you want to see your Mum, you know you can always spend time at mine,” she offered.

“I know.”

It was lovely to have the time to just catch up and reconnect.

 

Orion Black stood on the platform awaiting his son, his height and chiselled features made him an impressive sight. He hated coming here, usually leaving the chore to his wife, he had to pass through the crowds ofMudbloods on their way to the station. Whoever had thought that having the only entrance in the Mudblood’s station was a good idea should be taken out and Avada’d. Todayhe had knocked over a little old lady waiting on the other side of the barrier. It served her right, she shouldn’t be here- he thought. Maybe she had been hurt in the fall- this thought bought an upwards twist to his lips. Silently he watched as the train pulled up to the station, with a sharp whistle and a hiss as it breathed its last steam. The students seemed to pour out of the train as the doors opened like an incoming wave and then the tide ran out and stopped. His lips drew thin as he waited for his son. Where was that infernal boy? At last he saw him emerge from the train, dragging his trunk behind him, with two other boys.

“Sirius!” he barked sharply.

“Father,” Sirius looked up surprised to see the man standing there.

“Won’t you introduce me to you friends?” Sirius remembered the last letter and was grateful that Remus had stayed at Hogwarts.

“Um….”

“Don’t vacillate Sirius, it is un-becoming.”

“This is James Potter and Peter Pettigrew.” He indicated each boy in turn. “Guys this is my Father, Orion Black.”

“Sirius that simply won’t do, do it over!” Black Senior demanded.

“Father this is James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, Peter, James this is my Father, Orion Black,” Sirius intoned much more formally, making James stifle a snicker.

“Better, I shall want to meet you parents gentlemen.” James and Peter exchanged glances as they took in Sirius’ unusually upright posture, and both sensed that something was very wrong.

“I’m sorry Sir, but I will meet my parents outside the station,” James replied politely, “They usually wait up the street near the secondary apparition point so they don’t have to make their way through the crowds.”

Orion grunted, “That’s more sensible then I’ve come to expect from Fleamont.”

“My mum too!” Peter agreed, although he could see his Mother standing not far off he did not want to be near this imposing figure any longer than necessary.

Orion grunted again, obviously displeased, “On the return journey then.”It was not a question.The boys nodded in faux agreement.

“Quickly Sirius, the filth at the station is starting to make my skin crawl!” Sirius sighed, as he picked up the end of his trunk and followed the man from the station; it was going to be a long two weeks.

 

Lily stood patiently in the line of student waiting to cross the barrier and return to the muggle world where she knew her Nanna was waiting, until the guard indicated that she could pass.

“Nanna,” she cried as she gave the woman a hug “I’ve missed you.”

“Come now dear, the traffic is terrible, your Father is waiting in the car, and would you believe I was pushed over by one of the people heading to your platform, so rude!”

“Yeah I’d believe it Nan. Sorry. There are rude people everywhere.”

“It’s not your fault dear, come on.” And she quickly led the way to the car.

 

Sirius took his Father’s arm and with a Pop they disappeared from the apparition point. A moment later they appeared in the entrance hall of Grimmauld place.

“Walburga we are home,” Orion announced.

“Tea will be served in the parlour momentarily. I have invited the Malfoy’s to supper next week and we have received an invitation to the Potter’s Mid-Winter Charity Gala,” she said with a grimace as she entered the hall.

“Well must we attend?” if he hadn’t been the Pureblood that he was it would be said that Orion whined.

“Sirius is included in the invitation with an addition that he may stay the rest of the holidays if we permit,” Walburga continued primly.

“We will discuss the matter. Sirius put your things away,” he dismissed his son, with a wave of his hand.

Sirius trudged up the stairs to his room, dragging his trunk behind him, wishing it was allowable for him to travel with less than a full complement of clothes. It took him half an hour to unpack his trunk to what he knew would be a suitable standard and then make his way back down to the parlour where his parents were taking their tea.

“You can’t possibly be considering allowing him to attend,” Walburga hissed as Sirius raised his hand to knock on the door. He hesitated as he listened for the reply.

“Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t, but you know what Abraxus has said. If we can change the belief of the son then the parents will follow or can be made to follow and having the Potter’s onside should win us a boon with this new Lord,” Orion mused.

“They are blood traitors and I don’t want my Son, you Heir I might add, exposed to their….ways!”

“Very well.”

Judging the conversation finished Sirius knocked on the door with a measured tap, tap, tap.

“You may enter.”

His mother and father were sitting in cushioned arm chairs, he entered the room and moved to stand between them.

“You wished to discuss the Charity Gala?” Sirius enquired.

“There will be no discussion, you will not be attending,” his mother said waspishly.

“But what about visiting?” Sirius started to ask.

“No Discussion!” she snapped.

“Why?”

“No Discussion!” his father said in a tone that said consequences would surely follow if further comment was made.

“Yes Sir.”

“Now have you discussed our views with Potter?”

“No Sir.”

“We will give you until Easter to do so, that is all you are dismissed.”

Sirius walked back up the stairs wondering just exactly how he was supposed to have _that_ conversation. He ran different scenarios through in his mind, imagining the boys all lounging on their beds in the dorm. What could he possibly say? Maybe he could ask what they all felt about people with muggle parents? He could just envisage their responses; James would laugh and ask why he wanted to know, Remus would say that they were people too and Peter would just nod in agreement with whoever was speaking.

“You’re so lucky.”

The statement caught him by surprise and Sirius looked up to see his brother Regulus peering over the bannister at him.

“Why is that?”

“You get to go to Hogwarts and don’t have to be stuck in the house!” the younger boy pouted.

“Well I have to do lessons all day and they’re boring!” Sirius shrugged.

“What else do you do?”

“I like to play jokes on people.”

“Really! Tell me Sirius, please.” Sirius grinned.

“Alright, and maybe we can play one on Kreacher!”

“Cool!” the boys disappeared into Sirius’ room all thoughts of awkward conversations and blood status forgotten.

 

Tap, tap, tap. Lily rolled over in her bed.

Tap, tap, tap. She opened her eyes to the morning sun.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

“Lily! Get rid of that ruddy bird!” Petunia’s voice echoed shrilly through the house.

“Petunia! Mind your language!” their mother admonished.

Lily sighed and pulled herself out of bed, feet hitting the cold wooden floor, she stood and stumbled across to the window to let the owl in.

“Who’s writing to me hey?” she asked it. It hooted softly in reply as it landed on the back of the chair by her desk. She unbound the envelope attached to its leg and gave the top of its head a gentle pat. The name on the envelope was Anne Evans. Lily quickly got dressed and headed down the stairs.

“Nanna Anne,” she said as she walked into the kitchen “A letter just came for you by _owl_.”

“Yes dear, I have been expecting it.”

“But Nanna, owls are for witches, who’s writing to you?”

“An old friend of Aunty Rose’s dear, it is nothing to worry about.”

Lily passed the letter over and watched closely as her Grandmother opened it.

“This is an invitation to attend a Charity Gala.”

“Like a ball? You’re going to a ball, Nanna? Just like a princess!” Lily seemed in stunned by the idea.

“Yes, Love and you are coming with me.” Lily’s jaw dropped.

“What about me!” Petunia’s nasal voice cut into the kitchen, “Can’t I come too?”

Nanna Anne frowned, she really should have seen this coming, “Oh I’m sorry Pet, no. It’s a witch thing.”

“That’s so unfair, Lily gets everything,” she crossed her arms and stomped her foot.

“Well I won’t go if you don’t want me to Tuney,” Lily spoke sincerely as she turned her green eyes to on her sister who looked slightly less aggrieved.

“No Lily, you have to go,” Anne cut in. “I have been talking to Mia and Monty about this since you went off to school. Pet I will take you out another time, just the two of us. We’ll go to that fancy restaurant on Cambridge Street, I promise.Now come to my room Lily, I have something to show you.”

“Sorry Tuney,” Lily tried to apologise but Petunia just turned her back on Lily and stomped into the lounge to watch tv.

“Now, shut the door love, and then get out the box of tricks.” Lily did as she was asked. “You will need a dress, I believe I saw one in here.”

Anne opened the chest Lily had placed on her lap and surprisingly pulled out Rose’s wand and then closed the lid.

“And this is the first trick to the box,” she said as she gently tapped the lid with the wand. When she opened it next, instead of the box being full of the photographs that Lily was used to seeing, it appeared to be holding several pieces of material.

“Here grab hold of that midnight blue one and pull, gently.” As Lily withdrew her hand from the chest, the soft material unfurled into a ball gown, and she let out a soft gasp.

“Wow. How does that work!”

Anne chuckled and shook her head “I don’t know, I was just hoping it would work, I’ve only ever seen Rose do it. That is the dress that I wore to a Charity Ball I attended with Rose many years ago, the fashion is a little outdated, and it may need to be taken in some for you but, I’m sure it will be fine. Now let’s see.”

Anne gently tugged on a pale blue piece of cloth which revealed another beautiful dress.

“Let’s try them on and then we can ask your Mum if we can borrow her sewing machine to fix them up.

Anne’s dress fit perfectly, and it only took a half hour for Anne to make the adjustments to Lily’s.

 

“James,” Mia Potter called. “Hurry up they’ll be here soon.”

It was the afternoon of the charity ball and they were expecting the other Potter’s to arrive at any moment. A knock sounded, and Mia opened the door.

“Charlus, Dorea.” She greeted the middle-aged couple with a quick hug and kiss to the cheek. They were followed into the room by their son. “And Justin, my haven’t you grown!” She gave the boy a hug. “James is in his room.” The boy headed up the staircase after greeting his Aunt.

She looked at her sister in law.

“If it weren’t for that hair and Justin’s glasses, they could be twins,” Mia smiled. “Let’s go to the kitchen, we have a while before we need to get ready.”

 

Justin hurried through the house in search of his cousin, eventually finding him holed up in the attic.

“What are you doing up here Jamie?”

“Hiding. You know how mum gets.”

The older boy laughed “It will be worth it in the end.”

“It will. Well at least she will think it will.What do you think we can do this year?” James asked, thinking about how the last time they had spiked the punch with a whole bottle of his father’s fire-whiskey and they had laughed as they had watched the inebriated antics of the guests.

“Well, I’m thinking this year I might find a nice girl to dance with,” Justin grinned.

“Eww Justin. How about we spike the kids punch, with billywig stings.”

“Nah, how about we sneak out and start a game of Quidditch we can charm the quaffle to glow in the dark.”

James smiled in agreement and the pair began to plan.

 

As James stood at the door greeting guests, he began to realise that the chance of there being enough younger guests for a Quidditch match was about the same as two Eurumpents not exploding after a head on collision. He fidgeted, while he waited impatiently for the next group, turning as his mother spoke.

“Now Anne I gather your Granddaughter already knows my son James.” Turning sharply, he looked into a pair of green eyes, he breathed out and the moment was broken as she dropped her eyes to the floor.

“James you can show Lily to the back room.” He turned on his heel and left, Lily grimaced as she followed him. Entering the adjoining room, she spotted a blonde boy reclining on a chair in the corner, running a hand through his messy hair, his glasses lending his face an intelligent look. The boy looked up as they entered.

“James, I think Quidditch is out,” he grinned noting the girl at his cousin’s side “however dancing might be in.”

Ignoring him, James turned on the girl.

“What are you doing here Evans?”

Lily continued to look at the floor, blushing deeply and said quietly, “My Nan, got an invite, and decided we were coming, so here I am.”

“And we are very glad you came,” Justin smoothly cut in as he approached. “Surely Evans can’t be your first name? James how about a proper introduction.”

James groaned, knowing his cousin would not let this drop. “Fine,” he huffed. “Justin meet Lily. Lily this is Justin. Are you happy now?” he growled as he stormed off through another door. Justin looked at the small red-haired girl standing in front of him shoulders hunched as she seemed to shrink in on herself.

Her lips twisted a bit bitterly as she said, “Sorry but he doesn’t like me much. I’ll head back out to the grown-ups, so you guys can do whatever you do at these things.” She turned to head back the way she had come.

“I meant what I said,” Justin said before she reached the doorway “I’ll come find you for a dance.”

“I don’t know how.” She gave him a small smile as she paused and looked back over her shoulder.

“That’s ok, I don’t know much either, but I’ll teach you what I know.”

Her smile grew “Thanks”.

Justin turned and followed his cousin onto the veranda at the back of the house.

“Mind telling me what that was about?”

“I hate her!” James whined. “I thought I had gotten away from her but now she’s here. Argh.”

“Hate is a pretty strong emotion for someone you met five minutes ago.”

“I know her from school, she’s a stuck up know it all.” James stuck out his chin.

“So, you don’t mind if I dance with her then?”

“Traitor,” the grumble was met with Justin’s light-hearted laugh.

“Come on let’s go light up that quaffle.”

An hour later, the meal had been devoured and Lily was seated at the table beside Anne, when Justin approached, Anne had been worried when Lily had returned so soon after following James, but her enquires were met with a sad “I just wanted to stay with you.”

“Lily, may I have this dance?” Justin offered her his hand, imitating the movements of the adults in the room. She blushed a light pink as she took it and was led onto the floor.

“I hope you don’t get into trouble with James for dancing with me,” she murmured quietly as he led her through the movements.

“Why should I?”

“He doesn’t like me”

“So?”

“He tends to make sure his friends don’t like the people he doesn’t like,” Lily said simply. “He may prank you.”

“Well as I taught him everything he knows about pranking I should be ok.” He grinned at her as he turned her in a circle, she smiled shyly in return.

 

After taking her back to her Grandma, Justin headed off in search of James.

“I don’t know what your problem is with that girl,” he said as he sat down next to his cousin.

“She hangs around with this Slytherin at school,” James shrugged.

“And for the un-initiated a Slytherin is?”

“One of the houses, not a wizard went bad that wasn’t in Slytherin.” James quoted as if this explained everything.

Justin laughed “Let me get this straight, you’re judging her because a friend of hers is in a house with a bad reputation, so what do you think of me then? I go to Durmstrung where the school’s reputation is for teaching the dark arts. Am I evil then?”

“It’s not the same Jus.”

“Oh yes, it is.”

“Is not.”

“Is, but I’m not going to argue with you, there’s a pretty girl in there that I am going to dance with.” He stood and headed back inside, turning as he reached the door “One day you’re going to regret not dancing with that girl.” So saying he headed back to the dance.

 

The dance seemed a long ago dream to Lily as she searched the contents of her trunk for the potion ingredients and the pilfered text. Reading the instructions, she groaned, there was no way she was going to be able to complete this potion at home. It needed charms placed on it at very specific tiems throughout the process. Grumbling about the restriction on underage magic, she packed it all away again. She would need a place to mix the solution where no one could find it; where in the school could she do that? she thought as she moved an old book on charms out of the way to place the cauldron back in her trunk.

 

Sirius made sure he was late arriving at Platform 9 ¾ for the return journey to Hogwarts, it seemed he kept forgetting things! So that by the time he arrived James and Peter were already ensconced in a carriage and their parents had departed being too busy to wait. Feeling relieved that he had neatly circumvented the meeting between the parents, he lifted his trunk onto the train.It only took him a minute to find the others as they had again managed to secure their favourite carriage.

“So how was the Ball?” Peter asked as Sirius entered the carriage.

“Wasn’t allowed to go,” grumped Sirius.

“Mum said, that Aunt Dorea told her that your Mother was up to her old tricks again,” agreed James.

“Mmmm. I guess,” Sirius shrugged. “So how was it then?” Sirius asked James.

“Boring most of the usual crowd stayed away this year. Justin was there with Aunt Dorea and Uncle Charlus. Oh and you’ll never believe who else was there, prancing around like she owned the place.” James paused for dramatic affect.

“Well go on then don’t keep us waiting,” Peter said unable to cope with the silence.

“Evans,”

“What? Evans was allowed to go to the Gala? How’d she even get an invite?” Peter exclaimed.

“Apparently her Great Aunt was Mum and Dad’s mentor when they started at Mungo’s and they know her Gran,” James whined. “She spent half the night dancing with Jus. It was bloody annoying actually.”

“Does that mean she isn’t a muggle born then?” asked Peter.

“I don’t think the relationship is close enough to make a difference,” James said.

“Whether or not she is Muggleborn, is besides the point. I can’t believe she was invited and that she went!” Sirius folded his arms crossly and stared out of the window. Those were the last words they got out of him until the witch came round with the sweets trolley


	10. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily finds a place that is safe...for now. James has a birthday and gets a very special present. The Marauders go exploring.

 

School had resumed following the holidays and as the patches of residual snow melted around the grounds Lily headed out into the weak afternoon sunlight in the hopes of visiting Hagrid.

“Hagrid,” she called hopefully as she knocked at his door.

“Come in Lily,” he called out in reply.

She entered the room as he was placing the kettle over the fire.

“Been a busy year, haven’t seen you much,” Hagrid commented.

“You have been very busy,” Lily agreed.

“So how’ve yer classes been?”

They spent an enjoyable afternoon catching up.As she was preparing to leave Lily suddenly remembered the other purpose to her visit and reached into her bag.

“Nanna Anne sent you a Christmas present again,” the redhead commented as she passed a neatly wrapped bundle to the half giant.

“Eh, what’s this?” He pulled out a knitted woollen hat.

“It’s a beanie, a type of hat to keep your head warm. I hope it fits. Nanna thought it might be nice for when you’re in the forest.”

“How does she make these?”

“It’s called knitting, you have two sticks, called needles and wool and you kind of weave it together, she started teaching me once, but I’m not very good.”

“Is that so? Well maybe you can teach me one day.” He chuckled as he showed her to the door.

As was usual as soon as the door closed behind her Lily headed to climb her tree on the edge of the forest. After 5 minutes staring into the woods she ran back to the castle for tea.

 

Entering the Gryffindor common room that evening Lily noted that all the girls from her year were gathered round the Marauders listening to their tales of Quidditch high adventure. Seeing that they had settled in for the evening she felt safe to head up to the dormitory. Recently when they were all in the room together the other girls had taken to shoving and tripping Lily as she passed them. When she wasn’t in the room they would hide or move her things if she hadn’t put them securely away. She transferred her cauldron and the potion ingredients from her trunk into her bag and departed the dormitory, in order start the search for a place to hide them. Quickly checking that no one was paying attention to her, she left the common room and headed to a to the right of the Fat Lady’s portrait where she had seen a staircase that she had never investigated before. Walking up the stairs she found her way barred by a portrait of a courtier.

“Hello good Sir may I pass?” she enquired.

“Indeed my lady.” He bowed as his portrait swung and Lily proceeded up another dozen stairs to enter what appeared to be a cell. Its windows were barred and there were rusty shackles attached to the floor. Just like the dungeons- Lily supposed, it would make an ideal spot almost entering that corridor would stop at the Fat Lady and go no further. Lily set her cauldron on the floor and began her preparations. She worked for several hours slipping back to Gryffindor tower just before curfew, holding the courtier’s promise that he would let no other pass until her work was done.

Lying in bed that night Lily stared at her drawn curtains blocking out the whispers of the room’s other occupants. Six weeks to brew the potion she thought, then the mandrake leaf needed to be held in the mouth for a month, so she had a fortnight to figure out which greenhouse they were kept in and to sneak in and get some leaves. Who could she possibly ask? The answer flicked across her mind, Gid!

When Lily walked into the first herbology lesson after the holidays, she discovered that asking wasn’t necessary after all..She entered greenhouse 3 and noticed the addition of a new work bench at the back of the room, making her way towards it she spotted 3 plants with hair like leaves, identifying them immediately as mandragora, she would just need a distraction to be able to pilfer some leaves. Madam Sprout entered and began the lesson on fluxweed.

Lily kept her head down as she took notes and began her sketches, she watched the Marauders out of the corner of her eye as they pushed and shoved each other. In all likelihood, if left alone they would provide the distraction she needed. But why leave things to chance? On a sudden whim she drew a heart on a piece of paper and folded it into an airplane, with a surreptitiously cast Wingardium Leviosa it flew behind them and where she made it hit James on the far side of his head. Gently! Of course.

James had been teasing Sirius about the Hufflepuff third year who had smiled at him on the way to class when he felt something tap his cheek.

“What the…” he swatted at the annoyance, looking around as his hand made contact.

“What have you got there?” Sirius looked over.

“Plane.”

“Who from?” Sirius bumped James’ shoulder.

“Didn’t see.”

“Well what’s it say?” He bumped James’ shoulder again.

“Don’t know.”

“Open it?” Sirius whined, quietly enough not to disturb Madam Sprout.

“No.”

“Yes.” The volume escalated.

“No!” by now the whole class was looking.

“Potter, Black! I’ll have the note thanks.” James passed over the plane and Sprout opened it to reveal the glistening heart inside. “Yes well, there’s no cause for that in class gentlemen. Save it for when you’re old enough to go to Hogsmeade. If you’ve finished, we’ll continue!”

 

Lily smiled as she removed her hand from her pocket, the Marauders were useful for something after all, mission accomplished! She dashed up to the cell on the seventh floor as soon as class had finished. She greeted the courtier on her way.

“Sir Peter, how are you? Is my room still secure?”

“Milady Lily, I am most well, and none have entered. Though I feel you should find a secondary means of concealment if you do not wish your secret to be discovered. I am unable to keep this door closed for extended periods of time without the Headmaster’s approval.”

“Wise words Sir, I shall take matters in hand,” she agreed, resolving to look up a concealment charms.

Entering the cold room, she noted a small hole in the wall, it was nearly large enough for her cauldron to fit, maybe there was some charm to make the space bigger? More study to do she thought as she settled in to commence the potions next phase. It was long past curfew by the time she had finished and crept back into the dormitory.

“Where have you been?” Mary asked from the next bed.

“Out,” replied Lily simply, she wasn’t one for making up elaborate lies.

“With a boy?”

“Eww no! Just studying and lost track of time,” Lily whispered, it was nearly the truth after all.

“Oh ok,” Mary seemed disappointed. Likely she was looking for something to gossip about thought Lily.

“Goodnight.” Lily pulled the curtains around her bed effectively ending the conversation.

Lighting her wand she reached down the back of her bed and pulled out the two books, flicking them open she read through the instructions again; mandrake, potion, meditation and incantation. Ticking things off in her mind, the potion was nearly complete, ten days and all the ingredients were in, then to let it stew for a further twenty-one days and then to cast the last charm on it, the spare mandrake leaves needed to be dried and sealed ready for storage, and then the final incantation. The wand action was easy, all you had to do was point the wand at yourself. She just hoped she would turn into an animal that was useful, wait how would she even know what animal she turned into? She would have to find or make a mirror to hang in the room she was using. She sighed as she returned the books to their hiding place. She took two leaves out of her pocket and stuck one to the inside of each cheek with a mild sticking charm before tucking her wand under her pillow and lying down.

“Nox,” the light from her wand extinguished as she made ready to sleep.

 

A week later, Sirius noticed that something was different. It appeared that Lily Evans had stopped speaking.She sat through the entirety of a double potions lesson and did not answer a question, merely smiling at Slughorn as he inspected her potion. She only nodded or shook her head when Snape asked her a question. When two more days of classes had passed and there had been no change, he decided the situation was suspicious.

“What do you think is up with Evans?”

“Don’t know, don’t care” Peter replied.

“Nothing, why do you ask?” asked Remus.

“I don’t think she has spoken in two weeks. Can you remember when she last answered a question in class?”

The boys thought, for a moment then shook their heads.

“Nope.”

“Maybe she has laryngitis,” offered Remus.

“Larry who?” the Sirius asked.

“Laryngitis, a sore throat, surely that isn’t just a muggle thing!”

Satisfied that the mystery had been solved the Marauders returned to planning the prank at hand which involved trapping the caretakers assistant in a hidden room on the second floor that they had found the week before.

 

That Friday evening found Lily in the library waiting for Severus at her usual table.

“Hi Petal,”

Lily looked up and smiled. Severus frowned down at her.

“What’s up?” she grabbed a scrap of paper and wrote.

_Sore throat._

“Have you gone to Pomfrey?” Lily picked up her quill.

_Yes it’s just a sore throat, she doesn’t know what to do with it. Pepper up didn’t work, so it must be a muggle thing._ Lily decided it was much easier to lie in writing.

“Oh, hope it is better soon. You don’t think I can catch it do you?” he seemed genuinely worried.

Lily smiled and shook her head.

“Um, I just popped in to say I can’t make it, maybe next time when you are feeling better. And here is your birthday present,” Severus quickly pushed a small book shaped parcel across the desk then abruptly left, and Lily watched him leave with eyebrows knitted in a frown wondering if he thought he might be contaminated by her germs. She tucked the present into her bag and returned to her work.

 

The next two weeks passed slowly for Lily, she continued pretending that she had a sore throat, which by the end of the first fortnight was not a lie as the leaves acted as an irritant, and the ulcers that were forming on her gums where the leaves rubbed weren’t much fun either. By the end she was feeling embarrassed as she could tell that her breath smelt like something rotten and she couldn’t wait to be rid of the dratted things.

Lily hurried to the seventh floor, into that hidden room, signing a greeting to the courtier as she passed, ducking past the painting and up the stairs. Finally! she thought as she spat the leaves out of the window- that was the grossest thing ever, she hoped Remus would appreciate it! Then she bent over the cauldron, intricately waving her wand and reciting the words she had learnt. The potion began to fizz, then bubble, at last it emitted the blue smoke that the instructions proclaimed meant that it was correctly brewed, and she sighed in relief. She looked down at the potion, there was so much of it, it seemed like such a shame to waste the effort. Lily drew off four measures of the mixture into phials to allow it to cool, maybe the extra would come in handy.

She sighed as she sat down next to the cauldron with the phials leaning against her bag. Relief surged through her as she contemplated the first phase of her plan being over. Breathing deeply as she prepared for the next step, meditating on the form of her animagus. A few more minutes and she could take the potion. She reached out and felt the phial, it was cool to touch. As she popped the cork, she wondered how it would taste, oh well, Remus was willing to risk his friendship by talking with her, this was something she could do in return, so it was now or never.

She tipped her head back and consumed the fluid. It hit the back of her throat, soothing the irritation from the mandrake leaf and warming her stomach, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling she thought as she fell into a trance.

She was standing in the forest, looking around she saw the caves which provided a den for the wolves, an intense thirst hit her, so she glided towards up the path towards the river, her feet barely touching the ground. She felt a strange sense of duality. As she bent her head to drink she caught a glimpse of her blurred reflection, luminous green eyes stared up at her from the stillness of the pool, her outline was indistinct, and she became frustrated, at times it appeared she had a beak and then the image would flicker to reveal a velvety black nose.

The sound of raised voices jolted her back to reality, and she hastily hid the extra potion in her bag, pulling out the book Severus had given her for her birthday, quickly divesting it of its wrapping. She didn’t have time to register her surprise that he had given her his Grandfathers book _The Disyction of Spells_ before she heard feet pounding up the steps, and four boys tumbled into the room.

“Wonder why he didn’t want us to come up here,” came Peter’s voice from the back of the group. James stopped in surprise as he entered the room seeing it occupied. The three boys behind him were unsuccessful in pulling up short and they all tumbled to the floor as they ran into him one after another.

“Oof. Get off!” he cried from the bottom of the pile.

“What are you doing here Evans?” Sirius asked rudely as they picked themselves up.

“Studying.”

“What’s in the cauldron?”

“Evanesco,” she muttered quickly vanishing the contents before they could see “A practice potion.”

“Suuure.” They began to inspect the room, which didn’t take long.

Knowing it would annoy her Sirius said “I think I’m going to like it here, it’s a nice place to plan our pranks. You don’t mind sharing do you Evans?”

“I’m done now with the room now anyway, so I’ll just leave,” she stood and with her head down exited the room.She thanked the courtier for the warning on her way past and told him she had finished with the room, he was sad to see her go, having enjoyed having someone to talk to occasionally and made her promise to drop by when she could.

 

Back in the cell, Sirius was looking inordinately pleased with himself.

“So are we going to come and plan up here then?” Peter asked.

“Nah, why would we leave the comfort of the dormitory? That was just to get rid of Evans.”

“That’s a bit mean, don’t you think?” Remus seemed to agree with him.

“Don’t go soft on us now Pete!” James put in.

“Well where else can she go? You talked to the girls and made it, so she can only go her dormitory to sleep, you prank her anytime she is in the common room,” Remus pointed out.

“Yeah well, she can go see the Slytherins or to the forest for all I care,” a swirl of pity briefly attacked James’ stomach at Sirius’ words before he squashed it. Remus considered what she had told him in the library, and he wondered if jealousy bought out this vindictive streak in his friend, or maybe it was a behaviour learnt at home.

“It’s ruddy cold in here though, lets head back to the common room.” The four boys trouped out leaving a disgruntled painting asking what the purpose of them going in was if they were only going to come straight back out again?

 

Two more full moons passed with Remus allegedly going home to visit his ailing mother for each. Finally, at least in James’ mind, the morning of the 27th of March dawned bright and clear. His thirteenth birthday he thought with some satisfaction.

“Happy Birthday James,” chorused Sirius, Remus and Peter not even bothering to rise from their beds.

“Thanks guys,” James replied as he fielded the presents thrown at him from each corner of the room. He unwrapped them hurriedly and thanked each boy in turn before they all dressed and hurried down to breakfast. The Potter’s family owl Aparctius flew low over the table and dropped the brown paper package it was carrying directly into James’ lap, he tore the card from the front, and flipped it open.

 

_Dear James,_

_Happy Birthday. Your Mum and I wish we were there to share it with you.Your present is a family heirloom which I am passing onto you in the hopes that you will use it well. Open in private, tell only the trustworthy._

_Lots of Love_

_Dad._

 

Aparticus nipped his hand in hopes of a treat, James fed him a piece of bacon rind absentmindedly and hastily scrawled thank you across the bottom of the card as he ate, tying the card to the owl’s leg ready for the return journey.

“Bye old fellow, see you next time,” James said as the bird took wing.

“So, what did your parents send you?” Sirius was eager to know.

“A secret, we’ll look later,” James promised as they began making their way to class.

 

The four boys bounded up the stairs to their dormitory after classes. James grinned with excitement as he pulled the present from his bag. The other three gathered around as he peeled back the layers of paper. A piece of silvery silken material was revealed, James lifted it up.

“Dad sent me a cloak,” he frowned in disappointment.

“Your Dad sent you an old cloak,” Sirius added with a nod.

“Well at least try it on. It doesn’t look like it would keep you warm, it’s a bit thin,” Peter added as he fingered the cloth.

James threw the cloak over his shoulders enjoying the fluidity as it swirled around him.

“Well bugger me!” Sirius’ eyebrows elevated, and Remus’ jaw fell open.

“What?” James turned to face them.

“Go check for yourself,” Sirius hitched his thumb towards the bathroom a grin on his face.

“Damn.” They heard James voice echo in the enclosed space. “It’s a ruddy invisibility cloak!” His disembodied head floated back into the room, surprise etched on his features.

“You know what this means gentlemen?” he added.

“What?” Remus seemed hesitant.

“Hogwarts is our oyster. Let’s explore!”

“I know, I know, I know,” Peter began jumping up and down.

“Don’t wet yourself Pete, what do you know?” Sirius joked.

“Let’s find the kitchens!”

Sirius’ stomach grumbled, he looked down. “I agree, but how about after supper?”

They all laughed.

 

Just before curfew they left the common room and tucked themselves away in an empty classroom.

“So, did anyone, find any clues as to where they could be?” James started

“Who?” asked Peter with a frown.

“What?” James replied.

“Where who could be?”

“Not who, what! Where the kitchen is?” Sirius shook his head.

“Oh yeah.” Peter looked thoughtful “Bet it has to be near the Great Hall, to make getting the food there easy.”

“Below,” Remus supplied cryptically.

“What?”

“Below, it would be easiest to get food to the Hall, by sending it straight up so therefore the kitchen should be directly below the Great Hall.”

“Ok let’s go.”

They huddled together, and James threw the cloak over them. The cluster then stumbled towards the door of the room, before Sirius tripped over Peter, the cloak tangled round James’ leg and they all fell in a heap on the floor, leaving Remus standing looking down at their various limbs sticking outside the cloak.

“Maybe we need to practice just walking in this first?” Remus suggested.

“Ouch,” James groaned, pulling the cloak out of the way.

“Could you all get off me?” Sirius grumbled pushing Peters foot away from his face.

They collected themselves and began again. In the end they only managed to walk around on the seventh floor that evening and it took another two nights before they had mastered stairs. They nearly ran into Apollyon Pringle on the third night as they walked down the main staircase, the four of them pressed hard up against the bannister as he limped up the stairs. They stood too long, and the stair case moved leaving them on the fifth floor.

“Can we go back now?” Peter who was at the back of the group whined.

“Where is your sense of adventure Pete?” Sirius reached back and jabbed the shorter boy in the ribs. James pulled the cloak offthe group.

“I think I left it on the staircase with Apollyon Pringle,” he sighed and leaned against a nearby statue.

“Come on.” James stuck out his hand to pull Peter up. “No point standing next to ole greasy here.”

Peter placed his hand against the side of the statue as he took James hand and pulled himself upright. Rock scrapped on rock and the statue moved slightly, and the blocks behind it slide back and sideways revealing a passageway.

“Wow.” Sirius breathed “Way to go Pete.”

“Well gentlemen shall we explore?” James said as he tucked his cloak down the front of his shirt.

“Aye,” they all echoed, and they headed into the dark. As Remus who was now bringing up the rear started to enter the passageway there was a grinding of stone as the statue started to move, and he quickly stepped inside.

“Well that will make getting out more difficult.” James said though he didn’t sound nervous.

“Lumos.” Remus searched the area of wall they had just entered through. “It’s ok, there’s a lever here, I’m pretty sure you pull it and it will open. Lead on,” he turned back to the others. James led the way into the dark, it was only a few meters before they reached a set of stairs.

“Alright up we go.” A few minutes of climbing later they came to a wall. “We’re here.” He began searching the wall, eventually finding a stone that depressed and revealed an opening. They emerged and looked around.

“Huh, would you look at that, we’re in the Knight’s Room.”

“I think tonight’s over, let’s….” Remus was interrupted by the voice of the Caretakers Assistant.

“Well well well, what have we ‘ere? Students out of bed. I think you’ll all be coming with me.”

He led them down to their Head of House’s room. Professor McGonagall was less then pleased to be woken at 1am.

“What possible reason could you have for being out of bed at this hour?” Her lips were drawn thin.

“Remus was feeling unwell, so we were taking him down to the Hospital Wing.” James improvised. Remus immediately coughed, McGonagall’s eyebrows elevated, and her lips drew thin.

“Really it takes three of you?”

“Well he was feeling dizzy, so we were worried he would faint and then we would need to carry him,” James extemporized. It was clear that the professor didn’t believe them, but she had no evidence to the contrary.

“I don’t believe the Knight’s room is in between the common room and the infirmary,” McGonagall looked at them sternly.

“We must have gotten turned around in the dark,” Sirius tried.

She sighed “Ten points from each of you and a warning, if you are caught out of bed again it will be detention. Now back to the common room.”

“But Remus is sick!” Sirius sounded indignant.

“I will escort him to the Hospital Wing myself.” She stood and pushed the boys out of the door, trusting that Sirius, James and Peter would return to the common room.

They had only just settled into their beds when Remus returned.

“How did it go?” they noticed the steam coming from his ears.

“Lucky I actually have a runny nose, so Pomfrey gave me a dose of Pepper up and then said I was right to come back here. I am to rest if I am still feeling poorly in the morning.” He flopped onto his bed.

“So, you get tomorrow off as a reward, well at least we got in a good night’s work.”

“And we found a secret passageway.”

“Do you think there are more?”

“There’d nearly have to be wouldn’t there? In a castle as old as this,” with that thought buzzing around their heads, they fell asleep.

 

The Marauders conversation the next morning at breakfast centred on when they could continue exploring and how they would go about locating the kitchens. Their discussion was unfortunately overheard by a red- haired boy.

“So, you guys are looking for the kitchens?” he smirked at them.

They looked up in surprise, unaware that anyone had been nearby.

“What’s it to you?” Sirius replied defensively.

“I’ve found them already,” he shrugged and stood up to leave.

“Wait!” James exclaimed. “Where are they?”

“Ah young grommet, you guys call yourselves the Marauders. Surely you should be able to find them for yourselves.” He winked at them. “And don’t lose us any more points while you do so!”

“Can you tell us if we are close?” Sirius begged.

“Sure, what have you got?”

“Ok we think they are somewhere below the Great Hall.”

“You could be on to something there,” he nodded at them and walked away.

“Ok that is as good as confirmation.” James smiled “We head out tonight.”

“B..b…b but McGonagall said tha…” Peter protested.

“It’s a risk we’ll have to take,” he shrugged.

‘We really need something that shows us where everyone is in the castle so we don’t get caught,” Peter whined.

“That would be great for pranks,” Sirius agreed.

“But ruddy difficult to make.”

“One thing at a time, we’ll look at that later. Are we all agreed, kitchen tonight?”

“Aye,” came the reply and they headed off to class. That night their efforts were thwarted by Kingsley Shacklebolt who was patrolling and appeared to have preternatural hearing. He seemed to be aware of their presence in some way, and effectively herded them back to the common room, even though they weren’t visible. As Kingsley was patrolling for the next few nights they decided that they would wait until the weekend to try again.

Friday night came and again the group left the Gryffindor tower before curfew to hide out in a classroom. They covered themselves in the cloak and headed to the Knights room, pulling down on the knight’s sword arm to activate the entrance to the passageway and took their newly discovered short cut down to the fifth floor. Then following the staircases, they headed down to the first floor. They had not spotted another living soul since they had left the common room. Their luck held as they approached the Entry Hall, they heard the voices of the seventh year Hufflepuff prefects arguing.

“Do you always have to stop in at the kitchens on the way? You were late again, and what for? Hmm, a piece of cake that you could have gotten from the dinner table!”

“Do you think that the kitchen is near their common room?” Remus whispered only to be shushed by the others. The prefects looked around.

“Did you hear something?” The Marauders began to sweat under the cloak. A few seconds passed.

“Must someone’s cat. Time to go back?”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll stop at the kitchens on the way, I feel like a hot chocolate.”

“Really do you ever stop?” she seemed amused more than disgusted.

“No. Did you want one?”

“Yeah ok,” the pair linked arms and headed down a short corridor which led to downwards staircase. The four boys followed close behind and stopped when the pair paused at a painting of a fruit bowl. They watched as the prefects tickled the pear, they could hear giggling, but they were too far away to see what happened next. The door swung open and the prefects entered.

“Ok what do we do?” Peter asked quietly.

“We wait, if they are only having drinks they won’t be long,” James replied. It was a mere five minutes later when the pair emerged, laughing as they carried their mugs away and headed further up the corridor.

“Right in we go!” Sirius couldn’t suppress his glee as he reached past Peter to tickle the pear. It squirmed and laughed, and then turned into a door knob. They opened the door and stepped through into the kitchen removing the cloak.The room was enormous, there were five tables that replicated the position of the tables in the Great Hall, the walls were covered with every implement that could possibly be required for cooking. Their presence was immediately noticed by one of the creatures who worked there.

“Can we help Masters?” the skinny three-foot high being squeaked.

“Oh yes, can I have some cake?” Sirius was not shy.

“What are they?” Remus asked as it scurried off.

“House Elves,” stated James. “Ask them for whatever you like, and they will probably provide.”

“Probably?”

“Well at home ours, Dorry, Laney and Petty, have to do what the family says, that’s how they are bound, but these are bound to Hogwarts so….”

“They may not be bound to requests of the student,” summarised Remus.

“Exactly. So, what should we ask for, we can take stuff back with us?”

Each boy placed an order with the Elf when he returned with Sirius’ cake. They wrapped the food in napkins and tucked it into their pockets for the return journey. Four very satisfied boys fell into bed the night.


	11. Easter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus shows he could have been a Gryffindor. Sirius learns a new hex and the Marauders play another prank.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story is finished, I am thinking of punching out the rest in a chapter a day fashion so I can move on to the next story which has a bit more action and a lot less angst.

Lily sat in her favourite corner of the common room, tucked into her window seat with an ancient book of charms on her lap.

Concealment charm: hides an object from sight, though it may still be felt, obscures the inherent magical properties of an object.

She smiled as she read, wondering if this was what happened when she wished to disappear. I sounded perfect, she could still use the room behind the courtier and if she could find some way to enlarge that hole she could store things in there and then conceal them as well. She continued flicking further through the book.

 _Confringo_ : causes the target to explode, dangerous.

Well that might work to enlarge the hole but might not the best solution to the problem.

Disillusionment charm:used to conceal the subject.Bewitches the target to take on the tone, texture and look of the surrounding area.Subject may be animate or inanimate and may still be visible if it/they move. She began flicking again.

Undetectable extension charm:makes the inside space of the target object larger without affecting its outside measurements. Advanced. Under strict control of the ministry to prevent breaches of the statute of secrecy. Commonly used on tents and trunks by registered companies.

Perfect! If she could get that to work she could expand the space to store whatever she needed and then conceal the opening, and there was no risk of a muggle finding out in the castle so….

“Hey Squirt,” Gideon called as he entered the common room interrupting her train of thought.

“Hi Gid, long time no see,” Lily quickly closed her book as she looked up.

“Well that’s because of OWLs, even I have to study,” he looked disgusted at the thought “Still if that is what gets me into Auror training.”

“Auror training?”

“It’s what I want to do after school,” he looked down at her puzzled face “It’s kind of like a poleasman.”

“Oh. How do you know what a _Policeman_ is?”

“Our Molly, is married toArthur Weasley and he is mad for muggles. I pick up bits and pieces from him. We should have you round for tea sometime in the summer.He’d be over the moon.”

She laughed “Sounds like fun. Is it dangerous being an Auror?”

“Sometimes, catching criminals and all that, I expect there is a fair amount of paperwork though. Well best go the boys are waiting, Martin Gofrey managed to smuggle in a gigantic tarantula and apparently he’s managed to teach it some tricks, _that_ I want to see.”

Smiling Lily shook her head as he departed and she returned to her book.

 

Lily returned to the seventh-floor cell after being advised by Sir Peter that the Marauders had not returned since the day she had finished the potion, and she sat on the floor near the damaged wall. The two books from the library fit neatly inside the space.

First step concealment charm, it was a fairly simple incantation and she mastered it quickly. The undetectable extension charm was far trickier and after an hour of dedicated work, she had made no progress and was beginning to feel frustrated. She sighed as she withdrew _Exemplary Self Transfiguration techniques and Guidelines_ from the hole and inserted the charms book into the space, reapplying the concealment charm. In the hour before supper she could at least start trying to transform, the thought that it might hurt briefly crossed her mind, but it was followed by an acknowledgement that if it did it wouldn’t hurt anywhere near as much as Remus’ transformations. Reading over the passage from the book there was no mention of pain.

 _In the quiet contemplation of your mind, create a space in which to change, allow your essence to flow into this space as the incantation is said_.

Lily leant against the wall, legs crossed, wand aimed at her chest and eyes closed. She took a large breath in, releasing it slowly as the incantation passed her lips. With practice she would be able to make the change without verbalising the spell and maybe without her wand.

Her vision again took her into the forest, though this time straight to the river. Again, as she bent her head over the river her own eyes gleamed back at her. The rest of her reflection was blurred and seemed to change.By the end of another hour she was sure that one of the creatures was some kind of large bird, the other was too indistinct to define.

Frustrated by her lack of success she turned back to the book searching for an explanation.

The form of the animagus is drawn from the base characteristics of the wizard’s personality therefore at times it may be that there is opposition of duality in aspects of that personality leading to more than one possible outcome. Until such time as there is a resolution of this dichotomy, transformation will be impossible. Conjuring a patronus may provide insight into the personality traits and thus may assist with resolution.

Her heart fell; duality. Her personality had conflicting parts, parts so conflicting that the generation of a single animal to represent her was impossible. From the sounds of the chapter it would take some time and work for this to be resolved. She sighed as she swapped the books again, checked that the concealment charm was working, tucked the charms book into her bag and went down to the Great Hall, thanking Sir Peter as she passed.

Searching for instructions on how to produce a Patronus was pushed from her mind by a letter she received as the Easter Holidays approached.

 

_Dear Lily,_

_We hope you are well. How are things going at school? Nanna Anne is unwell at the moment and we feel that you should come home for the Easter Holidays._

_Lots of Love_

_Mum and Dad._

 

Tears formed in her eyes as she tucked the letter in her bag and made her way to class.

 

“Oooh the Mudblood looks like she is going to cry? I’d be sad too if I had filth for parents.”

The voice cut across the hall ways, Lily didn’t bother to look for the source, she just tucked her head and continued on her way.

“Incisus,”the voice called, and she felt a stinging on her arm, as she sped up. Once she reached the classroom she rolled her sleeve up to look at the injury- a small cut on the outside of her arm and deemed it not worth going to Madam Pomfrey to have healed. As the days passed she was subjected to this mini-cutting hex more and more often and was grateful that she would be heading home for the holidays very soon.

On the last day before holidays she met up with Severus in the library.

“Hey, are you heading home for the holidays?”

“I actually am this time.”

“Oh good, shall we take our usual compartment?” she smiled. “I hate sitting alone when you aren’t there.”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.”

 

As usual the Marauders were gathered in the dormitory preparing for their evening jaunt through the castle. Sirius knew he couldn’t put it off any longer, he had to talk to others, lying to his Father was not an option. He could either start this now or on the train where he would risk being overheard.

“Sirius, what’s on your mind,” the ever-observant Remus asked.

He hesitated “I..I…I don’t want to offend anyone but I just wanted to ask you guys something?”

“Go ahead we’re all ears.”

“Well how do you guys feel about Muggleborns coming to Hogwarts?”

The question was met with a moments silence.

“Well my Mum, says that there are some differences, like how Evans reacted to the itching powder but that if we didn’t include them, their magic would go wild,” Peter offered.

“Well Mum and Dad say that the stuff about them not being as good at magic is rubbish, so I don’t see why they shouldn’t be here,” James added.

Remus’ response was almost angry “We’re all the same, no matter who your parents are. We’re all people. We all bleed when we’re cut. Trying to ostracise someone based on who their parents are is ridiculous.”

“Why do you ask?” James asked.

Sirius gulped “Well my Dad believes they shouldn’t be here, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.” He hadn’t been expecting so fierce a response from Remus or an actual opinion, even if it was actually his Mother’s, from Peter.

“Well why don’t you look at those around us. Evans’ tops every class and she is Muggle born, and what about Mary, you like her don’t you? Well she’s Muggle born,” stated Remus

“As is Lexi from Hufflepuff, she’s not the brightest but she seems alright,” added Peter.

“Still, Evans hangs around a Slytherin, Mary’s a pushover and well Lexi isn’t the best at magic. They are all kind of a bit….”

“A bit what?” Remus’ voice was hard. “They are all people Sirius, and people have flaws.”

“Let’s head out,” James said to prevent a fight.

 

Lily disembarked the train after an enjoyable journey spent chatting to Severus.

“Just remember you’re welcome anytime, especially if they are being…if they’re arguing ok?” she said as they passed through the barrier.

“Alright. See you later,” he turned and headed towards his Mother.

“What’s that about Lil’ Bear?” Mr Evans asked.

“Sev’s parents argue all the time, and I think things get a bit…rough. So I said he could come and see us whenever he needed to. Is that alright?”

“It sure is Lil’” he slung his arm across his daughter’s shoulders as they walked away.

 

Nanna Anne was dying. At the end of the day that was it, it would take some time yet, but as surely as night followed day she was dying. Lily looked into her face and could see the fatigue and pain hidden there. Her Nanna would no longer make her the soap that she loved or tell her stories of Aunt Rose or go to another Gala. Lily spent every moment that Anne was awake at her side, though she often fell asleep in the afternoon and Lily would go and spend time with Chris and Kathy or Severus. The latter had even taking to coming around in the morning and spending time with Lily and Anne.

 

Chink.

Something hit her window the noise causing Lily to stir.

Knock, knock, knock.

Now she was awake. Lily glanced at the clock, as the harsh thumping on the door resumed. It was only 5am! She stumbled down the stairs and wrenched open the door to reveal a flustered Severus standing there.

“Lily I need help, please come,” Sev called frantically.

“What’s the matter Severus?” Mr Evans asked as he came down the stairs, pulling a shirt over his head.

“It’s my neighbours, they’re having a fight and I think someone’s hurt, I heard someone screaming and they have two kids!” In the face of his distraught voice Mr Evans sprang into action.

“Lily you call the police and bring your Mother round when you’re done.”

“Ok Dad.”

“Come on Son, show me the way!” Severus led Mr Evans down to Spinner’s End. They heard screaming as they hurried down the street.

“Where would the kids be Severus?”

“On the top floor.” He pointed to where a small balcony protruded from the upper level of the house.

“What’s the quickest way we can get up there?”

“If it’s like our place the only stairs are inside, but I could go into my place and then climb out my window.” The screams grew louder and were now accompanied by loud bangs. Severus fidgeted.

“I don’t think we can wait for the Police,” Mr Evans worried.

As though the comment was a starters gun Severus took off. He bolted through the door to his house and was seen a moment later pulling himself onto the window ledge. He reached over and grabbed hold of the balcony swinging himself across between the terraces. His face set in a mask of determination he climbed over the railing and tapped on the door. There was no answer, so he tried the handle on the door and it opened. 

Entering the dark interior of the house Severus saw a boy and girl huddled together peeping out from under the metal bed.He began to coax them out, trying to remain as calm as he could.

“Hi, I’m Sev, remember I live next door.” He crouched down trying get to eye level with the children.

“Dada is angry,” the boy warbled.

“Yes, he is, do you want to come with me?” Severus held out a hand.

“If we go Mumma will be sad, she’ll be all alone,” was the whispered reply.

 

Sirens were heard as a police car turned into the street, they stopped outside, and three officers jumped out. Suddenly there was a loud bang from downstairs and the screams ceased.

“I think your Mummy wants you safe more then anything,” Severus’s tone more urgent now.

The girl looked at Severus and seemed to make up her mind.

“Harry, we need to go.” She stated firmly as the banging began again this time accompanied by yelling. “Before Dada comes.”

They crept out from their hiding place and towards Severus, he noticed the bruises that covered the tiny boy. He led them onto the balcony and called softly to Mr Evans.

“Shall I lower them down?” he asked just as two officers entered the building the third looked up at the children.

“Get them out now!” he ordered.

Severus grabbed the boy by the waist and lifted carefully him over the balcony and let him fall into Mr Evans arms, he was deposited onto the footpath as his sister was lowered in the same fashion. Mr Evans pulled both the children away from the house to the other side of a parked car as Severus climbed back in through his own window, he could now hear heavy footsteps on the stairs. Mrs Evans and Lily ran up the street to join them.

“What’s your name?” Lily asked the girl.

“I’m Evangeline and this is my brother Harrigan.”

“And how old are you?”

“We’re five.” The girl held up her hand palm forwards with fingers spread.

“Are you twins?”

“Yep, Mumma said she had two babies at once to save time,” the little girl giggled a bit.

“Your Mummy sounds lovely,” Lily smiled at her,

“Is Mumma going to be ok? Dada was so angry!” Evangeline worried.

“I don’t know sweetheart.” Lily gave the girl a hug as she turned to look at the house.

The police were pulling a dirty looking man from inside, he staggered as he walked.

“Why would you do that?” the officer muttered.

The man stopped and glared at him “Because she was there!” he spat as he was forced into the waiting car.

An officer approached the group waiting on the side of the street. He addressed Mr and Mrs Evans.

“Do you know this family?”

“No, Sev here,” Mr Evans put his hand on Severus’ shoulder, “alerted us to the situation.”

“Ah. It’s just that, from what we can tell these kids have no other family. Our options are to take them back to the station and then to try and find someone to foster them until they can be adopted, or have someone they know look after them while we arrange the fostering. It can take a few days.”

“Their mother?” The officer shook his head sadly.

“Oh.” Mrs Evans looked at her husband. “Ewan?”

“It’ll be a stretch, but I guess if Tuney and Lil’ share a room or one of them will sleep in the eaves….”

“We’ll do it,” Lily quickly volunteered. “I’ll sleep in the attic if Tuney won’t share!”

“Alright then, you pair take them back to ours. Get them something to eat, they look half starved,” Mrs Evans decided. She and Mr Evans turned to the officer to work out the legalities.

By the time Mr and Mrs Evans arrived home, Evangeline and Harrigan had been shown around the house, been fed several sandwiches more than they had seen in their short lives and Lily was trying to find them some clean clothes they could put on. Mrs Evans opened the bag she was carrying and pulled out two sets of clothes and hustled them into the bathroom as Petunia walked through the front door.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

It took till late in the afternoon to organise the transfer of Lily’s things to the garrett and to make up beds for Evangeline and Harrigan, Petunia having flatly refused to share or move from her room. At last, Lily made her way back down to the lounge, she would be sleeping on a mattress on the floor for the holidays but she didn’t mind, the police had said that after the investigations had finished they could have Eva and Harry’s bed, until other arrangements were made for the childrens care, but that it wouldn’t be for some time.

“Lily,” Nanna Anne called.

“Oh Nanna, I’m sorry so much happened today that I forgot!”

“Love somethings are more important than a silly old woman.” She smiled. “Things will become busy around here now, so I don’t think I will get another chance. Can you get out the box of tricks?”

Lily pulled it out and made to pass it to Anne.

“No Love, I think you need to take it now, hide it up in your room until it is needed.”

“Are you sure Nanna.”

“I am. I feel so tired these days, and I don’t want to forget. I also don’t want Tuney thinking it’s an inheritance for you after I pass because then she’ll be upset that she missed out.” Lily smiled sadly as she took the small trunk away and buried it deep in the cupboard in the attic.

 

Orion Black had been away on business when Sirius arrived home for the holidays, so he spent the time playing pranks on Regulus and ganging up on Kreacher. The day before Sirius was due to return to school his father returned and called him into his study.

“Did you discuss matters with your friends?”

“Yes Father.”

“And?”

“Well, James opposes your…our position, and Peter believes there are some differences between Muggleborn wizards and those of pureblood.”

“The word is Mudblood! None of this Muggleborn nonsense,” Orion grunted.

“Yes Father.”

“There is a spell Malfoy has brought to my attention, I want you to practice it on the Mudbloods.”

“Yes Father.”

“The incantation is Incisus, the action is a small stabbing movement. Go and practice it on Kreacher.”

 

The next morning Mr Evans’ bought Lily and Severus to the station and they tucked themselves into their usual compartment. Several hours into the journey there was a knock on the compartment door and the pair looked up from their books to see Lucius Malfoy entering.

“Severus!”

“Malfoy,” The dark-haired boy nodded.

“What are you doing sitting here with this…filth?”

“I..I…I have just as much right to be here as you,” Lily stammered. Malfoy gave a wicked laugh.

“No I don’t believe you do, you are nothing more than a filthy Mudblood now get out!” he raised his wand “Incisus, incisus, incisus.” She felt the stabbing sensations, she ducked around the blonde as he advanced continually hexing and she ran from the compartment. She sprinted down the corridor and slammed open a door at the rear of the train. Dodging through the opening she emerged onto a small platform and sobbed.

Remus was just returning to the Marauders carriage and caught a glimpse of red hair disappearing out the back of the train, he followed and found Lily crouched on the footplate.

“Lily, what’s wrong?”

“Malfoy.”

“Malfoy?”

“He kicked me out of the compartment I was in and hexed me.” She showed him the cuts on her arm, small drops of blood were visible oozing from the dozen or so cuts.

“What hex is that?” he was horrified.

“I don’t know it all he said incisus.”

The door behind them crashed open and Sirius stuck his head out of the carriage.

“Oi Remus, you were told no talking to Lily! Get your butt back in here, we need you to plan a prank.”

“Sirius, she’s been hurt.”

“To bad, I learnt a new hex this holidays and I want to teach you.”

“It’s ok Remus,” Lily whispered tears on her cheeks. “Don’t lose your friends because of me.” Remus followed Sirius back to the compartment where Peter and James were waiting.

“So where did you get to?”

“He went to see Lily!” Sirius sounded disgusted.

“She had been hexed by Malfoy.”

“She looked fine to me.”

“You didn’t see her arms, some incisus hex it causes small cuts.”

Sirius froze “What did you say.”

“The Hex that Malfoy used, Incisus she said, it causes small cuts, she had at least a dozen that I could see.”

“Nevermind that,” James interrupted “What Hex did you learn?”

“Ah… Incisus.” Sirius said softly, the other three boys looked at him aghast.

“Where did you learn that?”

“From my Dad, he didn’t tell me what it did, he just told me how to do it, and to go and practice it.” Sirius felt a small amount of guilt for the pain that he had caused Kreacher.

“I think we can all agree not to use that hex,” stated James.

Sirius prompted by his guilt added “And you are forgiven for talking to Evans this one time, but no more!” Remus nodded in agreement as Sirius continued “and it’s time we pranked her again.”

“As long as there are no injuries.”

“Agreed. And we need to work on a big prank for the end of school.”

The Marauders again sat in huddle in the common room surrounded by books of potions and charms, to all appearances studiously preparing for their exams.

“I like this potion it changes the drinker into a bird for a limited period of time.”

“Great so we can make it and slip it into the pumpkin juice at the feast. How long does it last for?”

“Full strength about an hour, but we can make it half strength. Do you think you can make this Pete?”

Peter ran a finger down the page, looking over the method and nodded his head “Yeah. It’ll only take a week, but I can make it anytime, it should keep, though we’ll need a large amount. Are we going to take it too?”

“It’ll look less suspicious that way.”

“Okay what about Evans?”

“I really want to make her squirm for thinking she can talk to another Gryffindor. She should just go to Slytherin already.”

“Yet something simple, here’s one,” James chortled “It would make her grew antlers out of her head.”

Sirius rolled around the floor laughing “Yes let’s do that, somewhere public so everyone can see. She’ll look ridiculous!”

Alison and Mary walked up to the laughing group.

“What’s got you guys so excited?”

“A prank we’re going to play on Evans,” Sirius supplied as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

“She’s strange isn’t she?Always hanging around that Snape fellow,” Alison tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“Yeah we think she should just head over to Slytherin,” Peter commented.

“Why? They’d never accept her she’s Muggleborn! She’s just a bit shy is all,” Mary defended half-heartedly.

Alison scrunched her nose “Yeah right, there’s something wrong with her, look at the marks she gets, you don’t just get those being Muggleborn. Mark my words no she’s up to something. Cheating if nothing else.”

“She studies all the time. Why does being Muggleborn mean you can’t get good marks?” Mary argued.

“Just being from an all magic family means you’ve heard this stuff before, it’s an advantage, that’s all I’m saying,” Alison contested. “So how can we help?”

The Marauders shared a glance.

“We’re all sorted for this one, but we’ll keep you in mind for the next one.”

“Sure,” the girls nodded and headed up to their dormitory.

“I just don’t like her Mary,” Alison said “She shouldn’t be allowed to sleep in our dorm. I knowSarah and Louisaagree.”

“Well it’s not like we can do much about it.”

“I’m sure we could if we think about it,” Alison said with a glint in her eye.

 

It was as she was walking into the Great Hall with Severus for lunch the following day that the Marauders again caused a commotion at the back of the room slamming the doors shut with an almighty crash so that all eyes turned to look at Lily as a magnificent set of antlers sprouted from her forehead and she again fled crying to the hospital wing as the room laughed at her.

“See!” Alison exclaimed. “How is she in Gryffindor, she isn’t brave at all.” The girls surrounding her nodded. “I’m sure we can find ways to give her the message she’s no longer welcome in our room and she’ll just leave.”


	12. The Exile of Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite being evicted from the Gryffindor dorms Lily remains a good friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts to get darker here. We start to break down Lily's character. To quote Remus "she was an uncommonly kind person with a habit of seeing the best in others, even when they could not see it themselves"

 

Lily snuck into the dormitory, grateful that the other girls were asleep. It had been a long fortnight since they had returned from holidays. The girls in her room had taken every opportunity to make snide comments within her hearing and to make her life as difficult as possible. “She doesn’t belong,” was perhaps the kindest phrase spoken.

And they had increased the tricks they played on her, frequently hiding her clothes, textbooks, quills and parchment. Her homework often went missing. They short sheeted her bed and sprinkled her bedclothes with itching powder again, sending her back to the hospital wing twice more. It all led to her avoiding the room as much as possible. She now slept under her bed and carried all her books with her everywhere. Lily spent most of her time in the library studying or in the seventh-floor cell trying to get the transformation to work. Only returning to the Gryffindor tower long after curfew.

Outside of the dormitory she got hit a dozen times a day, with the mini-cutting hex, on her way to class and was ignored as she sat at the table for meals. In fact apart from derogatory slurs no-one had spoken a word to her since they had returned from the holidays. She'd not seen Fab, Did or Doc, even in the common room and Hagrid was never at his hut.  Lily was beginning to wonder if she actually wanted to be a part of this world, was it even worth it? And to make it all worse every letter she had sent home had been returned un-opened. She really could have done with a few kind words from her Dad or from Nanna Anne!

Saturday morning came, and Lily ran down the path hoping to see Hagrid. It had been the one thing she had been looking forward to all week. When she reached his hut, the door was closed, and there was no answer to her knock. Sighing she turned towards the forest and climbed her tree. The spring breeze carried with it the smell of flowers, she missed the roses in her Mother’s garden and longed to go home. Half an hour later she felt she could cope with the confines of the castle again and climbed down to begin trudging back up the path towards the castle.

As she entered voices echoed in the entry hall.

“She should just disappear.”

Lily knew they were discussing her.

“She has no right to be in our dorm.”

“I agree, but how can we get her to leave, we’ve tried the powder, we’ve tried hinting that she isn’t wanted.”

“I think we should just tell her flat out. She isn’t allowed to sleep in our dorm anymore.” Tears fell from Lily’s eyes as she rounded the corner and came upon the group of girls. She pushed past them and headed up the staircase. When she entered the dormitory, she pulled out her trunk and levitated it back down the stairs and out of the empty common room. From there she turned and headed up to the seventh-floor cell.

“Excuse me Sir,” she whispered wearily to the courtier.

“Is Milady injured?” he asked with concern.

“No Sir, merely evicted.”

“Evicted in this castle! It is a travesty.” The portrait swung open and she dragged her trunk inside, she placed it against the wall and settled in next to it to practice the transformation.

 

Lily’s back was aching as she made her way to the Great Hall, a result of sleeping on the stone floor. She miserably stirred her porridge, glancing up when she saw the Marauders entering. Remus was joking with the others and when she sent a small smile at him he frowned and looked away. I’m done- she thought, I’ve put so much effort into trying to become an animagus for him and he doesn’t even care. She sighed her conscious prickling, she knew he needed the friendship, just not hers; she had no energy left to continue trying the transformation.

 

In the Slytherin common room, Lucius was again speaking to a group.

“I have been advised that we need to prove ourselves.”

“To whom do we need to prove ourselves? And why?” Severus asked.

“That will be answered in time Snape. For now it is enough to know that our betters are watching us and they are in a position to give us power if we are deemed worthy.”

“What is the test? Are we to attack the Mudblood’s again?” Nott was eager.

“No this time let us aim for the blood traitors.”

“Potter?” spat Severus.

“No we have instructions to leave him alone, however Pettigrew, might be persuaded to come back to the fold, if a little…pressure is applied.” The grin on his face was as predatory as a hungry shark. “Avery, Nott, Snape, I believe a duel would be easiest.Get him alone in some corner and then we shall see what the Gryffindor is made of.” He dismissed them. Severus was glad that Lily was not the intended target and that he had been given a chance to get revenge on one of the Marauders.

The problem would be getting Peter alone; he was always accompanied by Sirius, James and Remus.

 

“Where’s Remus?” Peter asked.

“Hospital wing. He’s unwell again,” supplied James as they walked down the corridor “Sirius and I are going to skip breakfast in the morning and stop in and see him on the way to class tomorrow. Do you want to come?”

Peter’s stomach growled, “How about I head to the Great Hall and grab some toast for breakfast. I’ll meet you in corridor on the way to class then.”

Severus peered out from behind a suit if armour, he just needed to advise Nott and Avery.

 

The next morning Lily had spent a long time loitering outside the hospital wing debating if she should still send the chocolate winging its way to Remus. With a groan she quickly inched open the door and sent the paper bird flying to Remus’ bedside.Just because he wasn’t as nice as she thought he was didn’t mean she had to change who she was. Turning she hurried down the hall way to make her way to breakfast. As walked she heard voices issuing from a corridor off to her left, knowing she would be hexed again if she was seen, Lily quickly hid behind a tapestry and waited for the footsteps to pass.

“Potter and Black will be going to the hospital wing to visit Lupin. Leaving Pettigrew to make his way up from the Great Hall by himself, we attack before Potter and Black come out of the infirmary.”

Their footsteps echoed off the walls and disappeared into the distance. Should she warn them? It wasn’t like they had been even remotely nice to her. However, Lily’s conscience wouldn’t let her ignore what she had heard. Sighing she knew she would have to try, but how could she warn them she mused, she quickly changed direction and headed to the owlery. The disappointing thing was she had recognised that voice.

Tap tap tap. The owl hit its beak against the dormitory window.

“Ruddy hell, who sends mail at this hour.” Sirius complained as he allowed the bird to enter.

 

_Pettigrew,_

_Beware. If you go to the hospital wing alone you will be ambushed._

_A Friend_

 

“What kind of note is that!” As they were now awake, Sirius, James and Peter decided they had enough time to quickly go to the Great Hall, before visiting Remus, together. Though thy debated the notes authenticity.

“It’s clearly a hoax a prank,” Sirius scoffed.

“W..w..what if it isn’t?”

“Pete we’ll be with you.” They ate hurriedly grabbing extra toast for Remus’ not trusting the hospital food.

“Remus!” they called as they entered the ward. They looked at their friend who lay pale and sweating in the bed. “You look ruddy awful.”

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.”

“Sorry mate, we’ll take notes for you, and we bought you toast.” They deposited the toast on the table and after a brief chat departed. It was as they turned the first corner that it happened.

“Serpensortia.”The shout echoed off the walls and the three dodged the snake that came hurtling out of a side corridor towards them.

“Incisus,” a second voice yelled.

“Protego.” James cast a shield.

“Fighting in the halls!, Detention all of you, and 10 points each.” McGonagall was furious as she escorted the six boys to her office.

 

Lily was working hard in the library; she hadn’t seen Severus since the train back to school after Easter. She looked up as he approached her desk.

“Sev,” she smiled it was good to see her friend even though she was disappointed he had been involved in planning the attack.

“Hey Lily, I can’t stay long I have detention,” he grimaced.

“What happened?” she was hoping he would be honest with her.

“Nothing, Potter and Black attacked me in the halls, and McGonagall came along and bang detention, she wouldn’t even listen to me,” he whinged.

“Sev, is that really what happened?” she pressed. “McGonnagall doesn’t seem the type to give detentions without finding out details first.”

“Yes. Don’t you believe me?”

“I know you were planning to attack Pettigrew,” She stated bluntly.

“I would never,” he denied.

“I heard you Sev.”

He looked down knowing he had to give her a good reason “Well it was just payback.”

“Payback for what?”

“I heard then, outside the compartment on the train. Telling Lupin that he couldn’t speak to you, that isn’t fair Lily!”

“It’s nice that you want to defend me Sev, but I’m fine thanks. Fighting them will just make it all worse! It makes you as bad as they are. I know they’re bullying jerks, but you shouldn’t stoop to their level, you’re better than that Sev.”

“I don’t want to be better than that Lily!I want to make them pay, they humiliate us, and I hate it!”

“Just let it go Sev.”

“I can’t Lily.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He turned and stalked out of the library on his way to trophy room for his detention. Lily sighed as she watched him go. She couldn’t help but feel his involvement would have bad repercussions. She was right.

 

It started the next morning at breakfast someone added onions to the jug of juice at her place at the table. At lunch her meal was filled with an emetic and she rushed to the lavatory to be sick. At dinner every time her fork got close to her mouth, the food would drop back onto the plate. Lily was getting less and less to eat.

The girls and the Marauders began to hound her if she entered the common room, looking for a quiet place to work. They followed her to the library and spoke loudly getting her thrown out. She resorted to ducking into empty classrooms to find a quiet place to read or study and she made her way to meals either very early or very late and skipped lunch altogether. She was still being cut as she walked down the halls and her banishment from the common room meant that she hadn’t seen Doc, Fabe or Gideon except for very occasionally when they passed in the corridors on the way to classes.

There came the day when the Marauders stalked her and followed her to the Seventh-floor cell where she had been sleeping and when she left the next morning they set up an elaborate series of traps. Her trunk exploded when she went to retrieve a fresh uniform, her homework disappeared, her shoes walked off by themselves and when she returned that evening mice over ran the floor when she lay down to sleep. Fortunately, her concealment charm held and they failed to discover the broken bit of wall where she had hidden the two purloined books.

Lily wept in despair, she didn’t know how much more she could take. Not for the first time she longed to go home!Everything was going wrong; she couldn’t fight the Marauders, the girls, and the Slytherins. She walked the empty corridors that night, lost in her misery she never noticed Peeves as he approached, he knocked over a suit of armour in front of her causing her to scream in fright, she ran in the opposite direction as his laughs echoed down the corridor.

She ducked into an empty classroom and slid to sit on the floor with her back against the wall, eventually when no teachers came she fell into an exhausted sleep.

 

“Couldn’t you find a clean uniform Lily! You look like something the cat dragged in.” called Alison as they walked to potions Lily with her head down.

“Couldn’t even have a shower today, you grub,” sneered Louisa

Remus caught sight of her tear stained face and dirty robes and felt remorse. She looked thin and broken.

“Incisus.”

“Incisus.”

“Incisus.”

Remus heard it whispered from all sides and watched Lily shudder slightly as the spells hit.

“Filthy Mudblood!”

“Leave, you shouldn’t be here.”

“Incisus.”

“Incisus.”

“Incisus.”

Remus approached the Marauders sitting together at a table waiting for their class to commence.

“Have you seen Lily lately?”

“Yep,” said Sirius seeming proud. “She looks dreadful, the princess is getting what she deserves.”

“I don’t think she deserves what she’s getting,” Remus looked up as the girl herself walked in.

“Yeah, she is. Just a little more and she will be out of our hair and will change house.” Sirius threw a tripping jinx in Lily’s direction and laughed as it made her fall to the ground, splitting her lip with her teeth. She collected the books she had dropped and wiped her bloody lip on the sleeve of her robes as she continued on her way to a table to sit next to Snape, flinching.

Remus sighed and shook his head, he noted that Snape didn’t speak to Lily once during class and wondered what was going on there.

 

“I’m hungry,” Peter whined.

“Well take the cloak and go to the kitchen.” James looked up from the game of exploding snap he was playing against Sirius.

“But I don’t want to go alone.”

“Well take Remus.” He suggested as the boy in question emerged from the bathroom.

“What?”

“Want to come to the kitchens?” Peter asked eagerly.

“Sure,” he shrugged. “You guys want anything?”

“Some of that raspberry tart from dessert would be great.”

“Yeah get some for me too!”

Peter grabbed the cloak out of James’ trunk and headed to the door with Remus following. They slipped out the portrait hole covered in the cloak.

“Shall we take the short cut,” Remus suggested.

“Yeah ok.”

As they approached the Knight’s room Remus spotted a slight figure hunkered down next to one of the plinths, her hair just showing red in the torch light.

“What’s she doing here? She’ll turn us in!” hissed Peter.

“She won’t she is out after hours too.”

“She’s asleep,” Peter was astounded “Why’s she sleeping out here.”

“At a guess because the girls kicked her out of their dorm and then we covered the floor of the room she was staying with mice.”

“Oh yeah that’s right,” Peter giggled.

“I don’t think it’s that funny actually.” Remus noticed the girl stirring and made a decision. He stepped out from under the cloak.

“Lily,” he whispered as he touched her arm “wake up.”

She screamed as she startled awake.

“Shhh. Calm down. You can’t sleep here Lily.”

“I have nowhere else to go,” she whimpered, and Remus looked at her properly. Her eyes were as dull as her hair, her face drawn and streaked with dirt, as she moved he saw the streaks of blood on her arms, her lip still swollen from her fall.

“Lily, why don’t you go join the Slytherins?”

“I’m a Mudblood. They hex me Remus, I’m not welcome there, even Sev doesn’t talk to me anymore, since our fight.”

“Go to Dumbledore?”

“No. What’s he going to do? He’s too busy, and it’s not like I can be re-sorted, the Sorting hat’s decision is final.”

“At least go to the hospital wing and have your arms looked at.”

“I can’t, Madam Pomfrey has more important things to do.”

“Well we need to go through here can you move a little, so we can get by?”

“Sure.” She murmured as she moved to one side and fell back into a doze. Remus activated the passageway and entered the space, followed by Peter. Remus had shown a little care- Lily thought as they moved away, she should try to repay him. If she left she could no longer send the chocolate frog after the full moon, he would need the Marauders.

“What do you think you were doing talking to her Remus?” Peter scolded as they returned to the dormitory.

“We had to get her to move, I wasn’t just going to push her out of the way!”

“We could have gone the other way, now she knows about the secret passageway.”

“She was practically asleep, I doubt she’ll even remember.”

“What are you guys arguing about?”

“Evans was asleep in the Knight’s room, right by the passageway, so Remus went and woke her and got her to move.”

“Remus!”

“What! Sorry if I don’t think it’s right, to pick on someone until they have nowhere to sleep but a draughty corridor, and they can’t go to the Great Hall to eat. She’s picked on by everyone, it isn’t right. She has cuts and blood all over her arms from the hexes that the Slytherins throw at her!”

“She’ll be fine!” Sirius stated without interest. “Where’s our pie?”

“She looks like she is dying. I doubt she has eaten properly in weeks.”

“She smells,” complained Peter.

“Of course, she does! She has been thrown out of her dorm, where is she supposed to bathe?”

“She’s a know it all.”

“So am I.”

“She can go to Slytherin.”

“She’s a Muggleborn, of course she can’t.”

“She can go to Hufflepuff.”

“She can’t be re-sorted; the hat doesn’t work that way.”

Finally, Sirius seemed to run out of arguments, James looked down at his feet abashed.

“Ok we’ll lay off from tomorrow. Agreed.”

It was a much more subdued “Aye” to normal. Sirius grumbled.

The sun gleaming through a window woke Lily, she stood and looked out of the window at the Forbidden forest. The castle felt so much more dangerous and dark to her then the forest did, her decision made she headed back towards the Gryffindor tower. She stopped by the Tower room first. Ignoring the mice that were still scampering around the floor, she pulled a calendar out of her trunk and hastily up-dated it with the full moons and dates of Remus’ illnesses, listing on the front page his other symptoms then she headed to the common room. The sun was well up and most students at breakfast by the time Lily approached the portrait.

“Que Sera,” she whispered to the Fat Lady.

“You look a little worse for wear Lovely.” Lily wished herself to disappear as she passed through the portal, and she must have done, for neither of the two students in the common room marked her passing as she trod the stairs to boy’s dormitory. She opened the door cautiously, wondering where to place the evidence. She searched the trunks locating Remus’ first and then James’.She placed the calendar in James’ bed tucking it under the covers with only a small corner protruding from the top. Again, she went unnoticed as she departed, making her way silently to the entrance hall. In stockinged feet she ran down the path and helter skelter towards the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is not mentioned elsewhere but Yes, Tuney is interfering with Lily's mail.


	13. Secrets Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Remus' and Sirius' secrets are revealed. Lily leaves the castle and discovers a garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter posted today as I realise I won't have time later in the week, as I will have 7 shifts in 6 days.

 

Classes came and went and only Remus marked Lily’s absence. He searched for her in the library and the hospital wing, meanwhile James, Sirius and Peter returned to their dorm. James flopped on his bed, toeing off his shoes.

“Ah the week is over at last.”

“Ah Yeah!” agreed Sirius. James wiggled on his bed.

“Ants in your pants?” Peter asked.

“Well something in my bed.” James flipped over and saw a coloured corner sticking out from under the blankets.

“Did you guys put this here?” he asked as he removed it, Sirius and Peter shook their head in denial.

“Maybe Remus?”

James flicked it open “No I don’t think so.” A moments silence passed as he examined the calendar.

“You guys know how Remus gets sick all the time?” They looked over at him. “Well take a look at this. Irritability, scratches, tired and disappears at full moon. And look here, each of the times he is missing is marked with the reason and look they all align with the full moon!”

“You don’t suppose?” Sirius stopped.

“I do suppose,” James nodded. “How could we not have noticed?”

“Suppose what?” asked Peter.

“Why do you think he gets sick, once a month at the full moon, at which time he is tired and grumpy as all hell, and he comes back covered in scratches.”

“He comes back covered in scratches?” Peter seemed surprised.

“Well so these notes say. I think the only reason we haven’t seen them is because he is always covered in blankets when we visit him in the hospital wing.”

“So you think he’s a aa....” Peter looked too frightened to say.

“Well it would explain why he’s so ill once a month.”

“Don’t you think it’s a bit……. scary?” Peter swallowed. “Him staying in our dorm?”

“It’s Remus.” scoffed James before he went on to explain. “He’s as gentle as a….puffskein. It doesn’t change who he is.”

“And someone else knows,” said Sirius solemnly.

“Yeah but who?”

“Someone who wanted us to know.”

“Wait how do we know that someone else knows?” asked Peter.

“Well the calendar for a start.”

“And someone always leaves a chocolate frog for him.”

“You don’t think that could be Pomfrey?”

“Why would she leave a frog for a student?”

“Fair point. I guess the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

 

Lily ran to edge of the forest, her dirty robes whipping about her legs, she quickly scaled the branches of her tree, wishing herself invisible as she did. It wouldn’t do to be seen now. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and her throat was dry, reminding her it had been too long since she had eaten anything.Water she needed water, a memory entered her mind and she saw a path leading past a series of caves down to the water’s edge. She jumped straight out of the tree onto bent legs and ran up the western path into the woods.

As she approached the caves she called in vain to the wolves. The lack of response drove her on and she continued to the stream. Lying down on the bank she washed her face and hands before scooping up the cool water to drink. Looking up she saw the path continue on the other side, taking her stockings off, she tucked them into her bag and began to ford the stream. Slipping and sliding on the stone stream bed she waded across in a matter of minutes. The grass on the opposing bank was deep and cool at the sides of the path, as she followed it further into the forest.

Up a slope she ran and down the other side, until she found her way blocked. A wall of green ivy prevented her travelling any further that way. She leaned against the wall and let her weariness take her.

The light cutting through the leaves was golden by the time she awoke. Leaning against the wall she pushed herself upright.

Clink.

The distinctive sound of metal on metal disturbed the silence. Lily turned back to the wall, running her hand across the ivy.

Clink.

It sounded again. She tried to pull the leafy curtain aside, it merely swung as if blown by a breeze.

Clink

She pulled the curtain towards her and felt it give, bending down she pulled again and crept under the edge. It was dark under the curtain of vines. She reached out her hands and felt the wall in front of her expecting to find stone, instead she found wood. She ran her hands across it.There was a door! The clinking had been a round metal loop that had clearly been used as a door handle. First, she knocked on the door, the sound echoed slightly as if there was a large space beyond the door. Next, she pulled on the doorknob to no avail. She ran her hands over the door, seeking any clue. Her fingers detected ridges engraved into the surface of the wood and she wished the light were a little better. Crawling out from under the leaves she made her way back to the stream and drank again, it helped to ease her hunger pains. With no better option she returned to the dubious shelter of the wall and settled underneath the curtain of leaves for the night.

 

In the castle three boys waited for the return of the fourth. Remus having failed in his search for Lily pushed the door to the dormitory open and was confronted by the sight of James, Sirius and Peter all sitting on their beds expectantly facing the door, somber expressions on their faces.

“Remus, we’ve been waiting for you. We have decided to call a meeting of the Marauders,” James said solemnly.

“Ok,” Remus swallowed, his gut twisted with the fear that they had discovered his secret, and he was about to be thrown out. Maybe Lily knew somewhere he could sleep?

“The issue we would like to address,” James was all business. “Is item Number five on the Marauders Manifesto.”

“Ok,” Remus went pale

“We have reason to believe that one Marauder may not be telling us the truth! We would like to give him this one chance to come clean however there will be consequences.”

“It’s ok guys,” Remus whispered looking at the floor “I’ll just leave,” and he made his way towards his bed as the others exchanged worried glances, this was not the response they were expecting.

“No!” yelped Sirius.

“That’s not what we meant!” yelled James at the same time.

“Remus, we know!” Peter spoke after the two dark-haired boys.

“It’s ok, I’ll go,” he bent over and opened his trunk, preparing to pack.

“Remus we don’t care,” added James and Remus froze.

“What?” he looked like he might faint from the shock.

“Well we know you’re a werewolf and we don’t care. You aren’t going anywhere but there will be consequences for not telling us the truth,” Sirius put in cheerfully “You shall have to go swimming in the black lake, without any clothes on.”

Remus stood for a long time staring at the three boys.

“You…you don’t care?” He appeared to be struggling to comprehend exactly what was occurring.

“No why should we? We know you Remus,” James stated bluntly.

“But I’m a monster, brutal! Horrendous! Violent!” squawked Remus.

“Well once a month that may be true, but you aren’t near us then so….” James shrugged nonchalantly.

“You mean it?” Remus smiled then. “You really, really mean it!”

“We really do,” James nodded in agreement.

“Well I guess we’d better get the cloak then,” he laughed

“Why?” asked Peter

“So I can go swimming of course.”

As they were about to leave Sirius made a decision.

“Wait,” he called out stopping James who had his hand on the door knob. “I have something I need to say too. You had better sit down.”

The others did as they were asked. Sirius pulled a pile of letters out of his trunk.

“Um,” he hesitated “It’s about my family.”

Silence. Sirius’ heart raced, what would they think of him? They accepted Remus, could they also accept him?

“My Dad has certain feelings about the wizarding world,” Sirius started.

“I think I know where this is going,” James said sternly.

“Yeah, he thinks that Purebloods should rule and Muggleborns and Muggles should be put in their rightful place. Which is preferable no-where near him or the wizarding world,” Sirius explained.

“Like they shouldn’t be here at Hogwarts?” asked Peter.

“Yeah and even more than that. He thinks that Muggleborns are a travesty against nature and should be destroyed. There is a new Dark wizard who is styling himself after Grindelwald and Dad thinks he has the right idea.”

“Ok so your Dad’s a bit… old fashioned. That’s not really a secret though, I mean my parents already know that.” James tried to make the connection. Sirius swallowed, he didn’t know how to explain, so he held out the wad of letters.

“Maybe these will help. Just don’t get mad.” Sirius winced.

James, Remus and Peter read through the letters.

“He wants me to try and convince you…”

“I guess the real question is what do you believe Sirius? You have never said,” James asked curiously.

“I don’t know. It’s hard to go against my parents, m.. m.. my family. I..I never actually tried to change your mind, but if I don’t something to tell my Dad when we go home,he’s going to stop me coming round in the holidays and I’ll be punished.”

“Punished?” Remus asked softly.

“Beaten, locked in a cupboard, denied food,” Sirius stated blandly.

“Ruddy hell!” James swore.

“Sirius, you still haven’t said what you believe,” prompted Remus.

“I guess they are just the same, I mean Evans annoys me but so does Snivellus and he’s pureblood isn’t he. Mary’s ok and she’s Muggleborn. I don’t think you can really tell until you ask. So I guess I don’t see why they should be treated any differently?”

“You’re right mate, they shouldn’t. Now we just have to figure out how to keep it from your folks! Oh and you’d best get ready for a swim,” James grinned.

“What?” Sirius looked up in surprise.

“Fair’s fair. Remus has to then so do you,” laughed Peter.

The made their way down to the Black Lake underneath the cover of the cloak and in the darkness, the two boys stripped and ran into the cold waters. 5 mins later Remus and Sirius emerged shivering on to the shore and were handed towels and clothes.

“You wouldn’t think it would be that cold in summer!” Sirius stammered out through blue lips.

“Apparently it is,” laughed James, throwing an arm around Sirius’ shoulders. “Come on, we need to figure out how we are going to get you out of your house for the summer.”

 

Lily woke up and stretched out the crick in her neck. At some time during the night she slid sideways down the door onto a rock and she tried to massage away the divot and red mark that had been left in the skin of her arm. Seeing that the light was a little better she stood to examine the door. The grooves she had felt the afternoon before were now visible as writing engraved into the wood.

_Be ye brave and bold and kind,_

_The key to this door ye may find._

_Locked is the way to those insincere_

_Only those with courage may venture here._

_In this garden treasures hide_

_Through the depths of time they will abide._

_In your mind the key is hid._

_Come only those who are bid._

_Fire and gold will guard this door_

_To the secret garden of Gryffindor_.

 

Lily read the passage again and again. Fire and gold guard the door, the key is hidden in the mind. Sounds like a Ravenclaw puzzle rather than Gryffindor!Fire and Gold, the Gryffindor crest.

Lily concentrated, flicked her wand and projected a picture of the Gryffindor crest onto the door,

Clunk.

She grabbed the handle and pulled, the door moved, and the hinges squealed as the rust broke from them in brown flakes as she opened the door several inches. She ducked through the opening and into the garden beyond.The path continued on the other side of the door and lead to the centre of the garden where stood a large statue of a lion standing on a plinth in the middle of a paved circle. Around the walls the plants had grown wild, crawling and climbing over each other in their attempt to reach the sun. A fountain clogged with ivy stood to the left side of the door. Lily started to free it from its confines and was surprised when water sprang from it once it was clear, washing away the years of debris.

Her stomach growled, a noise which Lily ignored as she washed her hands and drank from the fountain. She had left the castle now there was no turning back, surely there was some plant here that could provide sustenance at least until the end of term and then she would sneak onto the train. Once it arrived in London she would never enter the wizarding world again!

‘Pup!’

She turned to the door, to see the leader of the wolf pack sticking his head through the door way.

‘I’m here.’

‘Why have you entered the garden, we do not come here’ his voice was stern in her mind ‘Go back to the castle.’

‘I can’t.’ In her mind she showed him all that had been done to her, and he felt her sorrow.

‘Come, run with the pack for a time.’

She followed him out of the garden making sure to close the door behind her. She had to jog to keep up with him as he trotted through the forest to re-join the pack. By the time they came into view she was tired and stumbled over the roots and detritus that lay on the forest floor.The pups were no longer the little balls of fluff they had been when she had last seen them.

‘Who are you?’ a voice chirped in Lily’s mind.

‘She is pack.’ answered the dominant female.

‘She hasn’t enough legs!’ came the voice of the girl pup.

‘No she is human,’ agreed the leader.

‘Can she run fast.’ The junior female came close to Lily examining her intensely.

‘No, I can’t run fast.’ Lily could feel their disappointment.

‘Can you hunt.’ the boy pup challenged.

‘No I don’t hunt, I gather instead. I bought you food once to the other den.’

‘That meat tasted funny!’

‘Yes it was cooked,’ Lily agreed.

‘What is cooked?’ the pup tipped his head on the side, ears upright.

‘Cooked is when meat has been made hot.’

‘Like the light in the sky?’

‘Sort of,’ Lily struggled to convey the foreign concept to the adolescents and showed them a picture of a small fire.

‘Can we have fire when the white water falls from the sky.’

‘Maybe I can come and show you next time the white water falls.’

‘Time for sleep now while the moon is in the sky,’ the dominant brooked no argument.

Lily curled up in a ball and the pups came and lay next to her as she fell into a deep sleep. The sun was just broaching the sky the next morning when the Alpha male spoke to her.

‘We must hunt. Human pup, stay here and rest.’ Lily was left all alone and lay down again in the cave soon drifting back to sleep.

Clop, clop, clop

Lily woke suddenly.

Clop, clop, clop.

She peered out of the cave to see the Centaur herd gathering on the mound.

“What is this?” Lily was grabbed roughly by the arm.

“I’m Lily, I’m one of the students from the school.”

“This is our forest! You have no cause to be here. Leave.” She was roughly shoved to the back of the herd.

“Lily Evans, you need to go quickly before they anger.” A blonde centaur spoke to her and gently led her into the trees.

“But Firenze, I have nowhere else to go? I have left the school. I was staying with the wolves.”

He looked at her sadly “Lily Evans return to the castle. The forest is not safe for you. I must return to the herd.”

“Goodbye Firenze,” she called softly as she walked into the forest.


	14. Looking for Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone notices Lily is missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1/3 Chapters to post today.

 

Two red-headed boys and their dark-haired friend entered the Great Hall for breakfast on Monday morning. They made their way over to the table and sat down next to the group of second years.

“I haven’t seen Lily in a while,” Fabian commented thoughtfully, as he reached in front if his brother to grab some toast off the table.

“Really, I’ve spent so much time studying that I haven’t seen anyone,” Gideon groaned, rubbing the back of a hand across his eyes.

“Wonder where she is?” Doc moved so he could take a better look down the table as he tried to see if Lily was sitting amongst the students. “Oi you lot, you seen Squirt?” he called to the second years, when he couldn’t find her.

A girl with blonde hair laughed, as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. “What was that?” she fluttered her eyelashes as she spoke.

“Have you seen Squirt?” he repeated.

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” she smiled at him sweetly and leaned towards him. “Perhaps I could…”

“Have you guys seen Lily?” Gideon cut in. The girl turned her head to stare at him with a look of disgust on her face.

“Oh _Her_. No and good riddance I say,” her tone suddenly a lot less pleasant.“She’s probably over at the Slytherin table where she belongs with her greasy friend,” Alison flipped her hand in the general direction of the Slytherin table. Deeming the conversation finished she turned away from the boys.

“Oi, what do you mean no. She’s in your dorm!” Gideon quickly slid up the bench to tap her sharply on the shoulder to regain the girl’s attention. “When did you last see her?”

“We threw her out! If you _must_ know she hasn’t been in our dorm for at least three weeks!” she huffed and turned away dismissively.

The three boys shared a look and called to the blonde boy sitting further up the table with his friends, “Remus, when did you last see Lily?”

“Um. Thursday night.”

“Where?” Fabian demanded.

“The Knight’s room.” The three older students caught the tone in his voice that warned them there was more to this story.

“What time?”

“Nearly midnight, she was sleeping there, I tried to get her to go back to her dorm, but she wouldn’t,” Remus swallowed.

“When did you last see her at a meal?” Seriously it was like getting blood from a stone, what was the matter with these kids?

“Oh she came in early Thursday for supper, but we knew she would as she hadn’t had any lunch, “Louisa giggled. “So, we made sure we came in at the same time and charmed maggots into her food so she left. You should have seen the look on her face.” She pulled a face to demonstrate

“What is wrong with you lot!” Fabian choked on his toast and pushed his plate away. “McG now?” he looked at his brother.

“Definitely!” the three stood abruptly, and quickly strode to the front table where Professor McGonagall sat, leaving their breakfast behind them.

“Professor, could we speak to you please?” Gideon acted as spokesperson.

The professor paused with her teacup nearly at her lips “Now? Is it really urgent enough to interrupt breakfast?”

“We believe so.” Seeing the serious demeanour of the usually jovial boys Minerva placed her cup on the table and lead them to an antechamber next to the Head table.

“What is it?” She looked at them sternly.

“Professor. We believe that Lily Evans is missing?” Doc said sombrely.

“What do you mean missing?” the professors breath caught in her throat in shock. How could a student go missing in the school?

“When we came to breakfast this morning and we couldn’t find her we realised we hadn’t seen Lily for a several days, Professor,” he stated. “So, we spoke to the Gryffindors in her year, it appears she was thrown out of her dormitory about three weeks ago. The last time she was seen in the Great Hall for a meal was Thursday evening when they pranked her food, so it was inedible and they implied that they had done to the same with other meals. One of the boys was out late on Thursday and reported seeing her in the Knights room on the Seventh floor at that time, and he tried to get her to return to her dorm.”

Minerva frowned, “Now that you mention it she didn’t attend transfiguration on Friday either! I meant to check if she had been to see Poppy as it is most unusual for her to miss a class.I’ll arrange to search the castle. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You can head to your classes now but if you see her ask her to come and find me and advise one of the staff immediately!” Lips pursed she turned and hurriedly returned to the table, speaking briefly to Professor Dumbledore before leaving the Hall.

“Well I guess that’s all we can do for now, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Doc looked at the brothers and headed out of the Great Hall.

 

Just before dinner that evening, the Headmaster and the Head of Gryffindor met in the antechamber near the Great Hall. There had been no sign of Lily in the castle and no clue as to where she could be. They were becoming more worried as time progressed. No one had searched the cell on the seventh floor, so her trunk had not been found.

“What are we going to tell her parents Albus? They will have to be advised. She has been missing for nearly four days,” the Head of house shakily asked.

“I think first, we should speak to her friends.Would you please ask the second year Gryffindors to come to my office now?”

“Certainly.”

 

Half an hour later and the group of eight thirteen-year-olds were herded into the Headmaster’s office by his solemn deputy. They silently looked at the silvery instruments with fascination. As he looked at them, the old man noted that only one seemed to understand the gravity of the situation. Remus stood at the back of the group face pale and eyes turned to the floor. Indeed two of the girls were smiling and giggling as they stared avidly at his trinkets.

“I have a question for you all. What has happened to Lily Evans?” while his voice was gentle, his eyes held none of their usual sparkle.

“Who cares,” Alison, who was now looking at the sparkling case that housed the Headmasters penseive, muttered quietly. Unfortunately for her she was not quiet enough for the comment to be missed by the Headmaster and his blue eyes flashed in her direction.

“Who cares? Her family, her friends, her Professors and I care! Thank you very much Miss Flaherty. Perhaps you could answer the question?” his voice remained deceptively calm.

“She hasn’t slept in our dorm for three weeks,” the girl shrugged nonchalantly unaffected by the Headmasters hard gaze.

“And why is this?” he persisted.

She sighed and said as though she was explaining something to someone who was hard of understanding, “We didn’t want her to be there!”

“Do you mean to say you threw her out?” Professor McGonagall gasped.

“No! We didn’t!” Louisa denied innocently. “We never _told_ her to get out.”

“If you were having difficulties getting along you should have brought the matter to me to assist you in resolving your differences. If the issue couldn’t be resolved, then people can be moved into other dormitories. As you didn’t advise me, I am wondering exactly what you did to force her to leave the tower?” McGonagall pressed.

“Oh, we didn’t really do anything,” Alison shrugged nonchalantly. Feeling fully justified in her actions she expanded, “We just laced her bed with magical itching powder and hid her books and things.”

“Does Miss Flaherty speak for all of you?” McGonagall turned her stern gaze on the other girls, Sarah and Mary dropped their heads but didn’t deny the claim while Louisa rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“You make it sound like we have done something horrible,” the blonde scoffed.

“That is because you have! Let’s start with the itching powder, she is allergic, it could have killed her!” McGonagall stopped, breathing in sharply through her nose her nostrils flaring, and lips drawn into a tight thin line. She was unable to believe what was happening.

Taking over the interrogation Dumbledore’s voice was grave “When was she last seen?”

“Thursday night in the Knight’s Room, she was sleeping there,” Remus offered quietly not raising his eyes.

“Why was she sleeping there? Why not an empty classroom?”

“Well, um,” Peter started, face going red as he became the centre of attention.

“She was sleeping in the room on the Seventh floor behind the painting of the courtier.” He paused and drew a shaky breath. He knew he was incriminating himself and the others and hoped they would forgive him, but he had suddenly realised that Lily’s predicament could easily have been his own. Another shaky breath and he continued “Until we followed her, it was about two weeks ago. When we found out where she was staying w..w..we made her trunk explode, made her homework disappear and spelled the floor to be covered in mice whenever she tried to lie down.”

“You what! What else have you done to this poor child?” McGonagall was horrified as they listed all the pranks they had played on Lily. James and Remus winced, as each of the pranks that had been played on Lily was brought up they were beginning to realise that they had gone much too far.

“I don’t understand why!” McGonagall was genuinely flabbergasted. “Why would you do this to anyone? Why did you do this to Lily?”

“I did it because I don’t like her. She’s always getting her own way, she doesn’t understand about the magical world, and she _must_ be cheating on her tests to get the marks she does!” Alison stated unashamedly, Louisa nodded her head in agreement.

“I did it because the boys suggested it,” added Mary quietly lifting her eyes to meet the Professor’s, Sarah nodded in agreement, “They always made it seem like it was just a joke,” she grimaced.

“Boys?” Dumbledore peered over his glasses.

“We did it because we didn’t like that she was friends with Snivellus,” Sirius started, Dumbledore’s stern look over his glasses and McGonagall’s pale face suddenly made them begin to feel that this wasn’t a very good reason at all.

“Who?”

“Severus Snape, he’s in Slytherin,” Remus explained. Dumbledore turned to the painting of a previous headmaster “Phineasplease go to the Slytherin common room and request Mr Snape come to my office.”

“Certainly Headmaster.”

“To summarise as a group, you have bullied and harassed a member of your own house so very badly that she has disappeared from the castle. Purely because she was friends with someone from another house?” The room which seemed to have become steadily colder as the conversation progressed was practically arctic now.

The boys hung their heads “Yes Professor.”

“We didn’t mean it that way Professor, we thought it was a bit of a laugh really. We didn’t expect her to take it so personally,” James tried to explain.

“You didn’t? So, who else did you treat this way?”

“No one?” they seemed confused by the question.

“So you relentlessly, mercilessly _pranked_ ,” they could virtually hear the inverted commas that surrounded the word, “one person and one person only….”

“Except for Snape, though we didn’t touch his food, because he sits at a different table. Or mess with his stuff obviously,” Sirius interrupted as if this made it better.

“And you expect that one person not to take it personally?” the Headmaster continued. “You have denied her a place to sleep and food, these are the basic requirements of life. You had best hope we can find her quickly, as she has now been gone at least three days. As far as we know in this time she has had no food.The hope of finding her alive is fading as time passes.”

Very suddenly they were hit with the severity of what they had done. A short time later there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Dumbledore called. Severus entered the room, eyes darted around the room staring wide eyed at the Gryffindors.

“You wished to see me Professor?” he asked politely, continuing to look curiously at the collected students.

“Mr Snape when was the last time you spoke to Lily Evans?”

“Lily and I haven’t spoken for some weeks as we had a disagreement. I last saw her in potions on Thursday, I did go to the library on Friday hoping that she would be there, so I could apologise, but she didn’t come Sir. Why do you ask?”

“She is missing, she has not been seen in the castle for some days and we are trying to find out what has happened to her.” Severus turned on the Gryffindors, rage growing quickly, he had seen first-hand how she had been treated by the other members of her own house.

“What did you do to her?” he gritted out, his face contorted in anger, unable to hold it in.

“Severus,” Dumbledore drew the boy’s attention back to himself. “I am doing everything I can to find her. I think you should go to see Madam Pomfrey for a calming draught.” He paused and look at the Gryffindors, steel in his blue gaze, “I would request that you all return in the morning.” They nodded their agreement as they filed from the room.

“Where could she be Albus?” McGonagall asked. Dumbledore rubbed a hand across his forehead.

“The boys mentioned the Seventh-floor cell, let’s start there maybe the Courtier knows something.”

 

“Sir Peter,” Dumbledore called as he approached the painting.

“Dear Headmaster, it’s not often I see you up this way. How are you this eve?”

“I am well, but one of our students is missing, I believe you may have seen her?”

“Only one fair maid has passed this way, I know not her name, but hair of fire has she and eyes of green.”

“When did you last see her?”

“She last entered Friday morn and has not returned these last three days.”

“May we enter?”

“Verily.”

As he nodded, the painting swung forward, and the two Professors walked up the stairs into the cell. A quick glance showed a trunk up against the far wall of the cell but nothing else of note. With a sigh they departed.

“Thank you, good Sir, did you see where she went when she left?”

“She departed in great haste,” he pointed up the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room, “towards the Tower.”

 

“Dear Lady, a question,” Dumbledore asked the Fat Lady.

“Yes Headmaster.”

“Lily Evans is missing have you seen her?”

“A softly spoken child with red hair?” Dumbledore nodded “She entered on Friday morning after the commencement of breakfast.I did not see her leave though ten minutes after she entered the door opened again and I saw no one depart.”

“Many thanks.”

“Good Luck in your search,” she nodded to the Headmaster and resumed her vigil.

“Should we check with all the paintings?” McGonagall asked as they walked away.

“Yes, though I think the Founders painting in the entry hall would be the place to start as I feel she is no longer in the castle,” and they quickly made their way down the stairs.

 

“Good Evening,” Dumbledore greeted the four founders.

“Headmaster, to what do we owe the pleasure?” Lady Hufflepuff replied.

“One of the students is missing?” they gasped. “Have you seen Lily Evans?”

“Why should we have noticed her? Her heritage is less then desirable,” Salazar said.

“Really!” Rowena was indignant “She is very bright and could easily have been in my house.”

“Or mine,” added Helga, “She is so sweet, never fails to say hello as she walks by.”

“Well enough of this, how long has she been missing?” Godric asked.

“She was last seen on the Seventh floor on Friday morning.” The four turned towards each other and began to speak rapidly,each interjecting and none waiting for the others to finish.

“Friday..”

“Breakfast…”

“Was that her?”

“Moving fast…”

“Appeared and then…”

Finally, they reached a consensus and turned back to the Professors.

“Someone came down the stairs on Friday morning. We heard footsteps but saw no one, then as they reached the doorway,” Godric pointed to the grand double doors that gave entry to the castle, “They started to reappear, and we saw someone run down the path towards the forest where they disappeared again. We think the person had red hair.”

“Three days in the forest! Albus we may never find her.” Minerva clutched a hand to her heart.

Professor Dumbledore didn’t respond, he turned away from the painting with a nod of thanks and walked determinedly out of the doors and down to the Gamekeepers Hut.

“Hagrid, when did you last see Lily Evans?” he asked as the door was opened to his knock.

“I ain’t seen her for a while Professor, been a bit busy, truth be told, what with one thing and the other.”

“Doesn’t she usually visit you on Saturdays? Didn’t she come?”

“Now that you mention, she did not. Strange that, she normally pops by, even just to say hello when I’m to busy fer tea, always offers ta help no matter what I’m doin’.”

“Hagrid, she is missing, and we have reason to believe she entered the Forest on Friday,” he informed the Gamekeeper. “And she hasn’t returned.”

“Not Lily Evans! She wouldna do that. She knows she’s not allowed in without a teacher,” Hagrid was shocked and worried.

“Her year mates haven’t been as welcoming as we might have liked. We believe she may have felt she had nowhere else to go,” the Headmaster looked sadly at his friend.

“It’s my fault Professor!” Hagrid cried as his worry turned to guilt. “I shoulda made time to see her. I knew she was feelin’ down this year. Been fightin’ with those rascals in her class and ..”

“I am as much at fault Hagrid,” McGonagall confessed. “I noticed her appearance, she failed to hand in an assignment, and missed a lesson and I didn’t think to see if she was ok,” she blew her nose on a handkerchief as Hagrid began to sob.

“We all share the blame. She was placed into our care; the most important thing is to find her. Hagrid, if you would please start looking tonight.”

 

Gideon, Fabian and Doc followed the younger students to the Headmaster’s office the next morning, desperate to hear any news.

“Anyone know the password?” James asked as they stood facing the gargoyle.

“Jelly Babies,” Professor McGonagall’s voice called from the passageway and she followed them in. She made her way passed them and entered the office without knocking. Hagrid was already in the room looking very tired.

“Did you find her?” McGonagall asked anxiously.

“No,” he shook his head disconsolately. “I saw some tracks and I know she was running through the forest bare foot.”

“Why would she take off her shoes?” McGonagall was puzzled.

“Um, she didn’t have her shoes professor, w..w…we took them,” Mary MacDonald was just about in tears in her guilt.

“Why?”

“She has everything, you can tell she is from a rich family, so she can afford to share them and because I liked her shoes, and I wanted them,” Alison said as she showed off her feet.

Professor McGonagall was momentarily struck dumb, and then she turned on Mary “You know! You were there! In Diagon Alley, you saw that her family had barely enough money to pay for her books and robes, they couldn’t afford an owl like you could! And you Miss Flaherty will take those shoes off immediately, you should be ashamed of yourself!”

Sirius swallowed he too had thought she came from a home with everything and his preconceptions of Lily’s home life began to crack.

“Anything else Hagrid?”

“I followed her tracks to the stream; she went across it and I believe she spent a night outside the garden. Her footprints that are leading away from the garden are mixed with those of the wolf pack and I think she spent a night with them in a cave deep in the forest. I ran into Ronan Sir, the centaurs came across her an’ told her ta leave the forest an’ they chased her off, afta that I lost her tracks. I can’t find her!”

A squawk sounded from behind Dumbledore’s chair as the red and gold bird that sat on the perch there took wing. In a flash of light, he disappeared through the window.

“I think it best that you follow Fawkes Hagrid!” The half giant ran from the room.

 


	15. The Shame of Marauders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily is getting a little delusional in the forest. The Marauders are faced with the consequences of their actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2/3 Chapters to be posted today (hope I can find that last one!)

After leaving Firenze Lily ran. She ran on feet made fleet by the knowledge that her life depended on how far and how fast she could go. The echoes of the centaur’s shouts reverberated through of the trees. An unseen branch caught her robes and it tangled round her legs causing her to fall to the ground with a crash. Looking around she recognised nothing! She supposed that wasn’t all that odd as she hadn’t really ventured very far in, it was still frightening.

Gasping for breath she made desperate mental pleas to the pack for help: there was no answer. Part of her wanted to believe that they were just too far away but part of her was just as sure that they thought she was too weak.

Stomach clenching pains hit her, and she was reminded just how long it had been since she had eaten. Feeling nauseous and weak from hunger and fright, Lily finally gave in and began to sob out her misery. 

It was some time before she gained control of her sobbing hiccupping breaths. With a last sigh she knew she needed to find a safe place to rest. Maybe if she climbed to the top of the tree she could see a way through the forest and into the nearby village? From there she could make her way home, surely it must be only a couple of days till the train came. The plan gave her hope and she began to climb the nearest tree.

She had made it halfway up before she realised her error, the upper branches of the tree she had chosen (because it seemed to be the tallest of the ones nearby) were, as she climbed higher, becoming too thin to support her weight, she would have to climb down and find another. She climbed two more trees before finding one where she could make it near enough to the top.

Looking out at the surrounding treetops Lily couldn’t see any sign of the village, the forest ended away to her left, though she was sure this was still part of Hogwarts ground. A fork in between the branches of the tree provided her bed for the night.

Another day passed, and she spent a further night deep in the forest, sleeping the branches of a tree.

Climbing down the next morning her foot slipped on the dewy branches and she fell. Crashing through the lower limbs.Landing with a painfully awkward thud. She felt her arm break with a sharp crack as she hit the ground. Her vision was blurred as she stumbled through the forest holding her arm to her chest. Eventually she collapsed on the forest floor no longer caring where she was or what happened to her.

A chittering echoed through the clearing in which she lay, she rubbed her eyes as she awkwardly pushed herself into sitting.

“Why are you here friend of Hagrid?” a deep voice asked, her blurred vision didn’t immediately show the speaker.

“Who..who are you?”

“I am Aaragog.” She remembered the large spider she had visited with Hagrid the previous year.

“Hello Aaragog.”

“Why are you here?”

“I got lost in the forest.”

“Why were you in the forest?”

“I got chased out of the castle. How did you come to be in the forest?”

“I too was chased out of the castle.”

“Why were you in the castle?”

“I was given to Hagrid and he raised me in a box. Have you bought food?”

“No,” she shook her head.

“Then how will I feed my family?”

“I think I am dying,” Lily said. It had been two days since her last drink and five since she last ate. The delusional girl continued, “When I die, they can eat me, at least then I’ll know I have been of some use.” The edge of her vision faded to black.

 

 

Outside the castle Hagrid saw Fawkes perched in a tree on the edge of the forest. He remembered Lily asking if she would be allowed to climb it. If he found her safe he promised himself, he would grant her wish.

“Now Fawkes, just remember I can’t fly,” he called as the phoenix took wing.

He kept the phoenix in his sight as he pushed his way through the forest; at first Fawkes led him on the path he already knew Lily had taken. West to the path across the stream and to the garden, back tracking slightly and heading into the forest, following the wolves trail. He found the cave where she had slept and where the hoof prints of the centaurs marked the ground.Hagrid knew the wolves trail headed further to the West, but he had found no sign of Lily in that direction or in any other in the area, Fawkes led him to the East and deeper into the forest.

He found the broken branch were Lily had fallen and spotted a footprint in the softer soil under a tree, his heart was beating faster as they headed deeper into the forest. This was not a place for Lily to come alone, while he didn’t think Aragog would harm her there was always an element of doubt.

Looking past Fawkes, Hagrid spotted red in the distance and began to pick up his pace.

He heard a rasping voice state vaguely “Then I’ll know I’ll have been of some use,” and watched as she began to collapse, and the arachnids began to gather, chittering excitedly. Fawkes swooped ahead to hover over the fallen girl.

“Aragog!” Hagrid yelled “Leave ‘er be!” He surged forwards and scooped the girl up in his arms.

“My children need fresh meat Hagrid!” fury dripped from his words as Aragog was denied.

“I’ll bring some back later,” the half-giant promised as he turned away from the chittering beasts. He quickly strode through the forest and back to the castle carrying the girl as if she were no burden. Fawkes flew on ahead leading them straight to the Headmaster’s office.

 

A feather fell onto the desk as Dumbledore waited his chin resting on the tips of his outstretched fingers.

“She has been found,” he stated, though from the tone of his voice this was not necessarily reassuring.

“Is she alive?” Minerva asked.

“For now,” he supplied grimly. He waved a wand and a tray with a phial of pale blue potion, a glass and jug of water appeared on his desk.

Hagrid walked into the office passed the waiting students carrying the unconscious Lily in his arms. He placed her gently in a chair (that Mary had quickly vacated) one of her arms flopping loosely to the side.

“Out all of you! Out and wait outside!” McGonagall shooed the other children out of the door. “Shouldn’t we take her to the hospital wing?” she said as she turned her attention back to the Headmaster and the inert child.

“In a moment Minerva.” He revived Lily “Ennervate.”

She looked around the room and began to sob.

“Lily when you are able I would like you to have this potion and some water,” the Headmaster said gently as he indicated the tray in front of him. “Then I would like you to tell us why you are crying?”

It took a few minutes for the child to settle enough to consume both the potion and the contents of the glass, which instantly refilled from the jug.

“I don’t want to be here. I wanted to go home. I thought I had gotten away from here, but home was too far away, and I couldn’t make it so I was content to have escaped this place, just let me go,” she whispered in a voice that would make even the angels weep.

“Please tell me what happened?” he asked. She began her tale at the start of the year, the threats, the insults, the hexes, stopping at intervals to shudder and cry.

 

Whether or not the door had been left slightly ajar deliberately or not the fact was it had been left so, and through this gap the group outside overheard the story. Most were stricken by the events, only one heart remaining as stone.

“I don’t know why you’re all worried she is only putting it on,” the blonde sneered from where she was leaning against a wall, twisting a lock of her hair round her finger.

“Shut up!” Fabian glared at Alison.

“I’m serious she just wants attention like she always does.” Here she took on a nasal tone, “Ooh Miss I got 100% in my exam, ooh my essay got an O, ooh Professor Slughorn look how good my potion is.” She flicked the strands of hair she had been playing with over her shoulder.

“You have been told to shut it by my gentle brother, if you don’t be quiet down now I will hex you nine ways till Sunday,” Gideon spat “Is that clear?” The girl finally stopped talking looking affronted that someone dared to speak to her in such a manner, before proceeding to ignore the as she inspected the fingernails of her left hand.

“Did you see her arm?” James asked in a strangled voice, seeming to be in shock “It was covered in blood and scars.”

“That’s from the Slytherin’s curses,” Remus nodded.

“What?” Doc, Fabian and Gideon were shocked.

“They have a hex they use- Incisus- it opens up little cuts in the skin. They commonly use it in the corridors as people are moving between classes.”

“You’ve got to be joking!”

“No, they’re not,” Mary said quietly and lifted her sleeve to reveal her arm, she had a dozen cuts in various states of healing. “They get me too, all the Muggleborns really.”

“How did we not know about this? We have to do something Gid.”

“Yeah we do Doc, we’ll work on it.”

 

Inside Dumbledore’s office the Headmaster looked at the thirteen-year-old in front of him as she took another sip of water. Her story had saddened him greatly and he feared it would not be the last tale like this one he would hear, it certainly wasn’t the first though most at least found refuge in their own house. As she was talking Fawkes had flown over and landed in her lap, she stroked his feathers and he began to croon. The comfort from his song helped to ease the cramps in her stomach and the pain in her arm just a little.When she told of the hexes the Slytherins had cast, Fawkes bent his head and cried.

She looked down at the strange sensation of wetness spreading across her skin “He’s healing me,” she whispered in wonder, as she watched her scars disappear.

“Yes, the magical healing qualities of phoenix tears. You’ll learn about it if you take Care of Magical Creatures next year.”

“Why?”

“Because Fawkes thinks you’re worthy.” Lily looked up, it was the first time her gaze had met the Headmaster’s, the blue eyes had begun to twinkle again.

“Lily, there is something I have been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Yes Professor,” Lily continued to run her fingers gently over Fawkes’ plumage.

“You remind me a great deal of someone I once knew. Rose O’Connell.”

“She was my Great Aunt.”

“You resemble her a great deal.”

“That’s what my Nanna says.”

“Not only in your looks. It was your Great Aunt who found Fawkes and bought him to me. It was the end of our seventh year, our exams had finished and bold as brass, Rose ran off into the forest. She came back hours later, with the tale of a hidden garden and in her hand, she carried an egg that seemed to glow with an internal fire. She approached me as I sat under the beech tree and said, Albus he says he’s yours, and she passed me the egg. Fawkes hatched the moment my hand touched the shell. It gave me such a fright that I nearly dropped him,” the old man chuckled. “She had cast a spell, so I wouldn’t be harmed by the fire. Rose was a truly amazing witch Lily.” Dumbledore looked over his glasses at the girl.

“Do you still wish to go home Lily.”

“Yes Professor.”

“Why?”

“Because there is nothing for me here, I have no friends, I have nothing.”

“At least finish out the year and think about it over the summer. I think there are three boys outside who would be very upset if you left. They would be most upset if they thought for a minute that you didn’t consider them friends. Now I would like you to go to the hospital wing, do you think you need an escort.”

“No, I am feeling much better thank you.” She whispered her thanks to Fawkes as she stood.Dislodged from her lap he flew back to his perch.

 

“Are you alright Squirt?” Doc asked as she pushed the door fully open. She just nodded slightly without making eye contact and continued on her way.

“Please come back in ladies and gentlemen,” McGonogall beckoned them through the door. “Not you three, you can wait a bit longer.” She indicated for the older boys to sit back down, and then closed the door.

After waiting outside for a moment Fabian looked at his brother “I don’t think it’s such a good idea for Lily to walk to the Hospital wing by herself, you saw how she was looking earlier.”

“Me either,” Doc agreed.

“Alright let’s go.” The three hurriedly followed their friend. As they reached the corridor at the bottom of the stairwell a scream bounced off the castle walls, the three boys broke into a run.

“Filthy Mudblood!” the words echoed in the hallway.

They pelted towards the disturbance, rounding a corner they saw Malfoy, Mulciber and Nott with wands extended standing over a pile of robes on the floor.

Gideon whipped out his wand “Expelliarmus!”

“Incarcerous,” Fabian and Doc shouted simultaneously. The only one still standing Malfoy bolted. Doc dropped to his knees beside Lily who had fallen face down, and gently rolled her over.

“Merlin!” he breathed as he watched the blood start to pool and spread. “Gid! What do we do?” the dark-haired boy panicked.

“You stay here and try and stop the bleeding, Fabe run get Pomfrey, I’ll get Dumbledore.”

 

The eight shuffled into the room, in the interim one of the professors had conjured more chairs so they could all sit down.

“I confess to being deeply disturbed by these events, a child who entered our world with no prior knowledge of magic has been allowed to come to harm. Not only did you fail to help her in her time of need, when she was being hexed by others but _you_ who should have befriended her have contributed to this tenfold.”

“But what the Slytherins did was worse,” Sirius clenched his jaw, feeling they were being treated unfairly.

“What they did was physical damage, and while that can have long lasting effects it doesn't even remotely compare to what you have done. You have damaged her soul! Where in this castle can she feel safe? Who can she trust? You have shown her that she has no one to support her in this world? How does she move forward from this? How does she sleep in this castle knowing that those in her house who are supposed to be her family here have turned on her in such a way?” he looked at them with sombre eyes.

“I cannot begin to tell you how disappointed I am that this has happened in my own house.” McGonagall’s eyes were narrowed, and her lips were drawn so thin that they were nearly invisible. “Fifty points will be taken, and you will all have full day detentions on the weekend.”

“Professor!” the students complained “Fifty!”

“Yes, fifty points each!”

“We’ll lose the house cup.”

“You allowed this to happen! Nobody stopped it! Gryffindor does not deserve the house cup! I will be making your parents aware of your behaviour this term. In addition, you must each apologise to Miss Evans in person. You will also be responsible for ensuring she has copies of notes for all the classes she has missed and for helping her catch up on her homework.”

“Professor! Come quickly,” Gideon hollered as he burst through the door. “Lily’s been attacked, there is blood everywhere. I think…. I think…” distress stole his ability to speak.

Dumbledore stood and followed Gideon from the room. Their feet ate the distance to where Doc was waiting beside Lily’s unconscious body. At some point in the intervening minutes he had gagged the two boys that were bound and sitting on the floor opposite him. He looked up as the Headmaster approached.

“Malfoy escaped Professor,” Doc stated as the group approached. The six of the second years had followed and James gasped as he saw Lily lying as pale as death.

Madam Pomfrey led by Fabian approached from the opposite direction. She pulled a bottle out of her apron pocket and quickly tipped Lily’s head back and administered the draught. Dumbledore conjured a stretcher and the procession made its way to the hospital wing.

“Quickly Albus on this bed,” the matron indicated the desired destination “I need to find out what’s wrong before the blood replenishing potion has worn off.”

She lifted her wand and waved it in an intricate pattern over Lily’s body, white hot spheres sprang from the tip to hover over her head, left shoulder, left arm, stomach and feet.Madam Pomfrey gently removed Lily’s robe and revealed a long incision that ran from the base of her neck to the top of her shoulder and was bleeding profusely. She muttered a spell and prodded the wound closing it slowly.

Leaving the bed, she retrieved several bottles from the medicine cabinet, muttering to herself as she went “Incision, broken arm, cut feet, starving and dehydrated, what is this school coming to!”

Returning to her patient she seemed to notice the crowd around the bed for the first time.

“Out!, Out. Get out the lot of you.” She shooed them from the room.

“Keep me advised of Miss Evans condition please Poppy.”

“Of course, Headmaster.” The nurse barely noticed him leave as she splintered Lily’s broken arm and administered potion to help it heal.

 

“Professor!” Gideon called as the Headmaster departed the hospital wing. Dumbledore turned to the sound.

“Professor, we want to help!”

“What did you have in mind?” he asked his eyes twinkling.

“We can tutor her and what if we taught Lily how to defend herself?”

“How would that help?”

“It might give her confidence to be able to look after herself and show her that while we were busy this year we are still her friends and care about her.”

Dumbledore considered this “I think this is an offer you need to make to Lily. She has expressed a desire not to return to the school next year. I believe I had convinced her to proceed with her exams and to make a decision over the summer, but after this last attack who knows..….”

“We’ll talk to her when she wakes.”

“Gentlemen, if I it that may I ask, seeing as you are this willing to help and invested in Miss Evans returning how is it that you did not notice the problems Miss Evans was having sooner?” the Headmaster asked curiously.

“We’ve been busy,” Gideon offered with a shake of his head “Not that it is an excuse, we should have noticed, but we’ve all been wrapped up in our own goings on.”

“I am glad you can see this, I believe Lily will need your help, in fact it may save us all.” He left them standing confused outside the infirmary.

“Right! Well he’s gone barmy.”

 

The next morning as the students made their way down to breakfast there was a susurrus which slowly grew into a roar as the students noticed that the Gryffindor hourglass in the entrance hallwas empty of rubies. For the first time in history it appeared that a house would finish the year with no points. A rumour was started that students had been caught duelling in the forbidden forest, another that a student had stolen a precious item from Dumbledore’s office in the dead of night and another that the Marauders had made it so that the all the teachers underwear was strung around the outside of the castle like some kind of bunting and finally that a first year had accidently vanished them and they would be returned later in the morning when Dumbledore got around to it. The teachers did nothing to dispel the rumours.

At the end of the day, the Gryffindors had been called to gather in the common room.They lounged around the room whispering and complaining and waiting for Kingsley who had been called to a meeting with the Headmaster. It was nearly curfew when he returned to the crowded common room, face grim, nearly every Gryffindor student was waiting. At the back of the room nine stood silently.

“So what’s going on Kingsley?” Alice Kiely a round faced fourth year asked.

“The removal of the house points is no joke.” He stated to the stunned crowd. “They have been removed as Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore believe that we should not win the house cup this year.”

The question why echoed around the room.

“It appears that one of our number has been driven out of the castle and we ALL failed to notice.” There was anger in his words, but it was aimed at himself as much as any in the room.

“She was pierced many times by the hexes from another house, and we ALL failed to do anything. She was driven from her dorm and had no place to lay her head, and we ALL failed to see. She was driven from the table in the Great Hall and we ALL turned a blind eye. She is now lying bleeding and broken in the hospital wing thanks to our shame. We are ALL to blame.”

The silence was complete.

“Who?” Marlene McKinnon dared to ask.

“Lily Evans.” The room turned to face the eight second years.

“Who cares?” Alison began. “Don’t blame us just because she is a pain in the….”

“Petty personality clashes are beside the point Flaherty!” Kingsley cut her off. “What matters is that one of our own was exiled and we did nothing. What message does that send? Who else amongst us has been on the receiving end of the incisus curse?”

Half a dozen students raised their hands, all of them were Muggleborns.

“See.” Kingsley gestured towards the injured students.“Our friends have been hurt and we failed to notice. It doesn’t matter who it is that is hurting, we all have the responsibility of protecting people who cannot protect themselves. We don’t run from that fight. That is why we are Gryffindors.”

“Well she should have protected herself then!” Louisa called out from the back of the room.

“And how exactly was she to do that? She’s a second year and a Muggleborn, she has barely learned Expelliarmus yet.”

He looked around at those who had raised their hands. “Which of you knows how to defend against this curse?” They all shook their heads.

A fifth year spoke up, “Protego will stop it but it would have to be cast nearly continuously. As the attacks happen at any time and either silent or in a hall full of people so we don’t know it’s coming, and it goes right through school robes.”

“See,” he continued. “Besides when you beat someone’s spirit down enough they find it awfully hard to defend themselves. That’s enough talking about it, the points are gone, and I happen to agree, we do not deserve to win, our integrity has been questioned and we have been found wanting.”

 

The Marauders, Mary and Sarah gathered round a table in the common room.

“What do you think?” Peter asked.

“About what?” Mary replied.

“About what Kingsley said.”

Mary sighed “He’s right. We were too hard on her. I shouldn’t have put the itching powder in her bed, especially not after I knew it made her really sick. I should have realised if I was getting cut up then she was too, and more because the Slytherins hate her as much as we hate them.”

“Yeah and I shouldn’t have taken and hidden her things. I mean what is so wrong with her really, so she has a friend we don’t like, and is quiet but she works really hard she’s always in the library,” Sarah added.

“She’s just shy,” Remus supplied. “That’s why she doesn’t talk.”

“I still think she is a spoilt princess,” added Sirius before conceding “but I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

Solemn thoughts followed the group as they made their way to their dorms that night.

 

“I think I might go and see Lily this morning,” Remus stated as he emerged from the bathroom the following morning drying his hair.

“I’ll come,” Peter offered. “We have to apologise anyway, and I want to get it over with.” The pair looked at the two dark haired boys who had just woken up.

“We’ll meet you at the Great Hall for breakfast,” Sirius called as he pushed open the bathroom door.

“Just don’t forget to do it sometime, I’m sure Dumbledore will know,” Remus said.

 

The two blondes pushed open the door leading to the Infirmary, crept inside (trying not to disturb Madam Pomfrey) and made their way to Lily’s bed. She stirred as they approached.

“Morning Lily,” Peter said shyly.

“Peter,” she acknowledged dully not meeting his eyes.

“I’m really sorry for what we did. We shouldn’t have played all those tricks on you, I didn’t know the Slytherins were hexing you as well, and what we did just made that all worse. I’m really sorry.” She looked into his pale blue eyes and saw his sincerity.

“It’s ok Peter, I’m sure you won’t do it again,” she didn’t smile or look up from the spot on the duvet she was staring at.

“I’m sorry too Lily,” Remus started. “I really should have known better.” His voice caught in his throat, “I...I..I know what it’s like not to have any friends and us trying to make you leave Snape, w…wasn’t fair, and then the stuff in the Great Hall, well I’m sorry.” He looked up slowly seeing her hands twisting the edge of the sheet that covered her, veins standing out blue on her nearly translucent skin and the guilt twisted his stomach further.

“Don’t worry about it Remus, I know you were just trying to keep your friends, I just wish I had friends who stood by me like that,” her hesitant, softly whispered words nearly had him in tears.

The door swung open with a bang as Severus rushed into the room.

“Lily!” he yelled running to her bedside, stopping suddenly as he saw Peter and Remus. “What are _you_ doing here?” he snapped, “Haven’t you done enough?”

“We actually came to apologise,” replied Remus soberly “but we’ve just finished, so we’ll get out of your way. Bye Lily, we’ll catch up later.” Remus reached out and gently squeezed Lily’s hand.

“Not like he helped any either,” Peter muttered under his breath as he turned away.

When they had gone Severus turned back to Lily “What happened to you? I went to the library on Friday and you weren’t there, I was so worried. I know we had a fight, but we should be able to get past that.”

“I’m sorry we fought too. Do you forgive me?” Lily asked.

“Always.” He smiled and listened as she told the story of the adventures she had in the forbidden forest. Regardless of her accepting him back no smile crossed her lips and her eyes remained dull.


	16. Home Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily is very glad that the school year has finished and not at all sure that she wants to see Hogwarts again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3/3 Chapters today. And that's a wrap. 
> 
> This chapter actually felt very awkward to me and I have changed it quite a bit from the version that is posted on FF, hopefully it works.
> 
>  
> 
> The next instalment 'Lily Evans and the Garden of Gryffindor' is nearly complete (one chapter to write) and will be posted soon.

 

  “I have heard a rumour Dear Squirt,” Fabian said teasingly as he sat himself down on the edge of Lily’s hospital bed.

  “And what is that good Sir?” she replied copying his extravagant manner. It had been easier for Lily to accept the three older boys.  Whenthey had explained and compared schedules, she understood that they hadn’t been ignoring her, they had genuinely been busy. It had also been very clear how upset they were at what had happened to her and that they had missed seeing what was wrong.

  “That you, sweet one, are soon to be released from the confines of this sterile prison.” He gestured around the room wildly.

  “Tis true, but I have a secret,” she sat up and bent towards him “I don’t want to leave,” she whispered in his ear.

  He mimed horror “Why?”

  “I’m afraid,” she whispered again, clearly serious despite their joking manner.

  “I won’t tell anyone. If you tell me why?” he whispered back, a small part of him glad that she was able to confide in him.

  She leant back on her pillows, the joking manner pushed aside, her expression serious “I think what Dumbledore did may have made things worse, at least it would have at my old school.  All the Gryffindors will be angry at me because all those points were taken, and the girls still won’t want me in their room any more than they did before. Besides that after all the times they did things to my food, I'm nervous about eating, in fact I don’t like the idea of going to the Great Hall at all. It makes me queasy just thinking about it. I feel like it’s safe cocooned away in here. They can’t get to me, Madam Pomfrey makes sure my food is ok, and I just want to stay here till the end of the year like I told Dumbledore I would and then I can go home and I never have to come back.”

  “Hmm,” Fabians gut twisted at the thought of Lily not returning. he opened his mouth to start speaking but was interrupted as Doc and Gideon entered the room. He raised his index finger indicating for her to wait, “Let me consult with my monkeys.” He jumped off the bed and quickly jogged over to the pair before they reached Lily’s bed. In a low tone he relayed the conversation they had just had.

  “What do you want to do about it?” Gideon asked, in all honesty he wasn’t surprised that Lily didn’t want to come back.

  “I want to tell her our secrets.”

  “I’m all for it,” Doc agreed.

  Gideon nodded consideringly, “If she has options she might decide to stay.”

  “Right,” Fabian said as they broke out of their huddle and he approached the bed and picked up her hand. “First of all, I‘m sorry but I have broken my word! I told Gideon and Doc what you told me, but I did so for a good reason,” he explained as Lily frowned. Lily nodded for him to continue.

  “We want to let you in on our secrets, but you must promise that you will not share these secrets with anyone and in return you will be inducted into our group of mischief makers. Agreed?” He said solemnly.

  “Agreed.” When she smiled this time it very nearly reached her eyes.

  “Well then, I can tell you that should you wish to escape the confines of the casa de hospital wing, we know the perfect places for you to sleep and eat, until you feel confident to return to the tower. And when you are ready, your knights will go with you to defend your honour.” He raised an imaginary sword over his head. Lily let out a small giggle for the first time in a very long time.

  “Ok then, when can we go?”

  “To the common room? You are a brave little Lion Cub, aren’t you?” he teased.

  “No to my new bedroom, these beds are awfully lumpy!” she poked a finger into the mattress.

  “She can leave tomorrow,” Madame Pomphrey. Allied from the far end of the room, where she had absolutely not been listening in.

 

  The next day Madam Pomfrey cleared Lily to leave and for the first time in a week she returned to classes. She had eaten breakfast in the Hospital wing before she left, but as lunchtime approached Lily began to feel that nervous twist in her stomach, her heart rate increased, and her breathing became shallower. Maybe she should just skip it and head to the library. Before she could scurry away she noticed a red-haired boy waiting for her as she exited the classroom.

  “Fabe!” she said in surprise as he stepped in front of her.

  “Hey Squirt. Are you ready for the first secret?” he gently took her hand and linked it through his arm.

  “Sure,” Lily exhaled harshly. Fabian hummed happily as he led her down the staircases and passed the entrance to the Great Hall, down another staircase and into the kitchen hallway.

  “This is the kitchen hallway, the Hufflepuff’s common room is around here somewhere. Up that way I think,” he gestured further down the corridor. “But of more interest to us, is this.” He stopped in front of a still life of a large fruit bowl. “Tickle the pear,” he instructed.

  “What?”

  “Tickle…the…pear.” He repeated drawing each word out, a wide grin on his face. She dubiously reached out a hand and gentle moved her fingers over the pair.

 It wiggled “Ooh you are a gentle one,” it giggled as it turned into a door handle. Fabian grasped the handle and pushed the door open, Lily’s eyes popped as she entered the room.

 “Tada!” Fabe said grandly. “This is the kitchen, the house elves here are happy to serve so you can come down here to eat when you want or to get food to take away, instead of going to the Great Hall,” he smiled down at her. “They are all happy for you to watch them as they work, as long as you don’t interfere. And I have heard that they make a lovely picnic,” he added. “Now what would you like for lunch.”

  “Master Fabian and Miss, may we be of helping please.”

  “Lily this is Hickory, Hickory this is Lily, and we would like a plate of sandwiches for lunch please.”

  “Yes Master Fabian, Yes Miss Lily.” The house elf bowed and ran off to prepare their meal.

  “Come and sit over here Lily,” Fabian took her hand and pulled her to a small table in front of the fire.

  “Wow.. this is just … wow!” Lily said excitedly as relief coursed through her. “So I never have to go to the Great Hall again!”

  “Well no, but I think you should, when you are feeling more confident. After all everyone is expected to appear in the Great Hall for designated feasts, though I don’t suppose you have to eat.”

  “Thanks Fabe, this means a lot to me,” Lily smiled at him shyly.

  “Well, I also have to say something,” Fabian cleared his throat uncomfortably.

  “What’s that?” she looked at him curiously.

  “We’re sorry, Gideon, Doc and I. The others will probably give you their own apologies. We should have noticed you were in trouble and we should have done something about it. I know Doc had told the boys to lay off, but we never really thought they would take things as far as they did. We should have kept a closer eye on you.”

  “You guys are busy, you shouldn’t have to babysit me, I’m not your little sister.”

  “Well no, but I’d like to think we’re friends and friends should keep an eye out for each other. Our Molly is going to be most upset when she finds out. So, do you accept our apology?” he asked sheepishly. 

  “Of course,” they had already discussed how busy they had been so Lily felt there was nothing to forgive.

  “The three of us will catch up with you after your last lesson, ok?” Fabian popped the last sandwich in his mouth and wiped the crumbs from his hands.

  “Alright.” Lily looked around the kitchen and saw Hickory returning to collect the now empty plate.

  “Thanks Hickory, the sandwiches were lovely.”

  “Our pleasure Miss Lily.” She bowed again.

 

  Having something to look forward to, made the afternoons classes pass in a blur and it felt like it had only been five minutes since the start of the lesson when Professor McGonagall called for the class to put away their things.

  “Now what we’re about to show you is the best kept secret in the whole castle.” Gideon said as he checked that they weren’t being overheard. “Follow me.” 

They walked to the fifth floor, through the secret passageway to the Knights Room, then turned into the Hall of Hexes and from there into the Left corridor and stopped in a corridor. One wall of which was blank while the opposing wall housed a tapestry showing Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach a group of trolls, dressed in tutus, ballet. 

 “Now you need to walk up the corridor three times thinking about what sort of room you want.”

  Feeling very self conscious as the boys watched her, Lily walked up and down the corridor- ‘A room to sleep in, just for me, where no one can find me’. A wooden door with ornate silver scrolls embossed on it appeared in the centre of the previously bare wall. Lily tugged on the handle and the door swung open  smoothly on its large brass hinges to reveal the room beyond.

  A four-poster bed, identical to the one in the Gryffindor tower stood to one side of the room, just beyond the fireplace, a desk stood next to a bookcase against the other wall.

  “Wow a Gryffindor private room, sweet!” crooned Gideon. “If this is what the Head boy gets, it would nearly be worth it to behave.”

  “Key word being NEARLY,” grinned Doc. “Hey what’s through that door?” He pointed to the wall opposite the inglenook. The group went over and opened it.

  “Nice! A bathroom all to yourself. You won’t have to come back to the tower if you don’t feel like it.”

  “Now Squirt we do have to tell you a couple of things about this room. It works off what you require of it, hence, you need a place to sleep and it provides,” Gideon indicated the end. “However once you leave someone else could come in and then it will be whatever they require. If someone else is using it, you may not be able to get in, but once you enter at night, just think about it, not letting anyone else in with you and you will be safe. If someone else is already here when you come up at night, then come back to the tower and we will sort something out. Ok?”

  “Thanks for all your help,” Lily said gratefully. “I’m meeting Sev in the Library to study shortly, so I had better go.”

  “No problem. Tomorrow we might show you another secret that the castle holds.”

  “I can’t wait.”

 

  Severus was waiting impatiently in the library when she arrived.

  “Petal! I was beginning to think you weren’t coming.”

  “I wouldn’t miss this Sev.”

  “Well you did last week,” he pointed out a bit harshly.

  “Sorry. I…” she looked at the floor and blushed guiltily. Lily felt both slightly guilty and angry at the same time, after all it had been many weeks since Sev had last shown up to study, she wasn’t the only one to blame for their fight, no not fight disagreements, but she kept her mouth closed and didn’t mention it, this conversation would be difficult enough without adding old issues into the mix.

  “It’s ok. I’m sorry too,” Sev rushed out, not sounding all that apologetic. “I blame those Marauders for picking on you all the time!” he  continued with a huff.

  “It’s not just them Sev. Malfoy and his cronies have been hexing me all year. That’s why I was in the hospital wing so long,” Lily explained.

  “Really?”

  “Really, really.” She nodded, not noticing his faux surprise. “I don’t think I am going to come back next year,” she admitted grudgingly knowing he wouldn’t take it well.

  “No! You can’t leave me like that,” he protested, his face pale.

  “Sev it’s too hard, I have to study all the time to get good grades. No one likes me.” She continued quickly before he could protest. “I was late just now, because I had to find somewhere else to sleep because I am not welcome in my dorm…..”

  “But..” he grabbed her hand. “I need you here Lily, I’m like you, how could you just forget about me? Don’t I count for anything?”

  She bit her lip and hung her head again. 

  “Sorry, but I don’t feel safe here,” she looked at him with sad eyes. Severus swallowed around the lump in his throat, he would have all of the holidays to convince her she needed to come back.

  So he changed the topic, “Let’s just work on this homework and forget about it for now, ok?” Lily nodded. 

  Before they parted Lily asked quietly, “Sev are you going to sit with me on the way home?”

  “Yeah in our compartment, like always. Why would you ask?”

  “Well after Easter,” she shrugged, “what do I do if they throw me out again?”

  “It won’t happen again Lily, I promise.”

  

  Gideon met Lily in the kitchen for breakfast the following day.

  “I believe you were promised another secret?” He grinned at her as he placed his knife and fork on his plate and rubbed his stomach with a satisfied air.

  “I believe I was,” she looked up at him, with a small smile, as he stood. 

  “Walk this way ma’am.” He turned and strutted away from her. Lily tried to mimic his gait but was unsuccessful resulting in the pair collapsing in a fit of laughter.

  “What other secrets does the castle have?” Lily asked curiously.

  “Passageways,” he whispered, “There are six secret passageways that lead onto the grounds or into Hogsmeade.”

  “Hogsmeade?”

  “You know, the Town where the Hogwarts Express arrives. It’s an all magical community, shops, houses, etcetera. Of particular note are Zonko’s and Honeydukes.”

  “What do they sell?”

  “Zonko’s sell joke products and Honeydukes sells magical sweets.” Lily’s eyes sparkled.

  “Hmm it figures you would like sweets. Alright, do you feel up to breaking the rules?”

  “Well I won’t steal or kill anyone, but other than that…” she shrugged cheekily.

  He grinned, “knew you’d be up for it,” he grabbed her hand and ran. 

  They ended up gasping for breath, leaning against a wall in a corridor on the third floor near a statue of a one eyed witch who had a terrible kyphosis. Doc and Fabe were already there waiting.

“Dissendium,” the statue slid forward to reveal a passageway. “In you go, quickly! No let Doc through first. Beware there is a slide. Doc’ll catch you.” They filed through the opening and slid down the shoot.

  “Who built this?”

  “No-one knows, though the castle is a magically constructed building, so it may have made itself.”

  “Where does it lead?”

  “Well that would ruin the surprise now wouldn’t it. But I will say that it comes out into the basement of one of our,” here Gideon indicated to the three boys, “favourite shops, so for today we’ll just duck in there and then come straight back. No point risking you being caught in Hogsmeade without permission. You’ll get to go officially next year.”

  “I bet it’s Honeydukes!” Lily practically yelled in her excitement bouncing on her toes. 

  “Clever clogs aren’t you.” Doc reached out and quickly ruffled Lily’s hair before she could duck out of the way. By the time the passageway began to slope upwards indicating the end of their journey Lily’s excitement was beginning to wane. Just as her legs were beginning to ache they came upon a ladder, which led up to a small wooden trapdoor. Lily held her breath as they emerged from the trap door and made their way into the shop.

  There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; there was a large barrel of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees,  levitating sherbet balls; along yet another wall were ‘Special Effects’ sweets: Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps (‘breathe fire for your friends!’), Ice Mice (‘hear your teeth chatter and squeak!’), peppermint creams shaped like toads (‘hop realistically in the stomach!’) , fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons.

 “Did you bring any money Lily?” Doc asked. Lily pulled her black purse from her pocket.

 “When they started going through my trunk I started taking my purse with me everywhere. I don’t get much money, so I didn’t want to lose it,” she explained.

  “Fair call. In that case have a look and see what you would like to try.” 

Gideon tried to get her to taste a cockroach clusters as he told her stories of tricking Fabian into eating enough acid pops to burn a hole through his cheek (their mother had not been amused) and daring his cousins to eat blood pops until they threw up. In the end she bought a small packet of levitating sherbet balls, a couple of liquorice wands, choc cherry nougat and a mixed box of magic chocolates for her father’s birthday then they returned to the castle.

  “Where are the other secret passageways?” Lily asked Doc curiously, as she bit into a liquorice wand as they traipsed back through the passageway.

  “Well if I tell it wouldn’t be a secret now would it. Don’t worry they will all be revealed in time. I think we might keep a couple for next year, as an incentive for you to come back,” he grinned down at the red-head.

  

  Days passed, and Lily fell into a routine, eating in the kitchen, sleeping in the come and go room, attending classes and studying with Remus and Sev’s help. She quickly caught up on the week’s missed work.  

 

After the revealing of the shame of Gryffindor many things changed in the Gryffindor common room. The older students started watching the younger years much more closely. The Third-year girls in particular, being friends with Doc, Fabe and Gideon, paid attention to what was going on in the second year dorm. They noted that Lily had yet to return and being friendly with Fabian were aware of most of what had happened to the red-headed girl. 

On the second last day of exams Third years Emma Brown and Marlene McKinnon overheard a commotion in the girl’s second-floor bathroom between Lily and two of the other second years. Later that day after returning to the common room they discussed the matter. 

  “She was so kind when she was explaining everything to those girls, after all the things they put her though I was surprised.”

  “I would’ve held a grudge, I’m sure one of them was the one that kept putting the itching powder in her bed! Once was forgivable, sure I mean who knew that someone could react that badly with it, but more then once?” agreed Emma. “She could have just sent them to Madam Pomphrey or ignored them.”

 “I would have.” Marlene agreed. “I wonder where she’s sleeping?” 

  “Gideon said theytold her where a safe room to sleep is, but they weren’t telling anyone else where because they don’t want anyone to find her.”

  “Em, do you think we should ask if she wants to come into the dorm with us?” Marlene looked at her friend.

  “We’ll have to ask Sophie but now that Patricia’s gone to America we have the space,” she shrugged.

  When their dorm mate entered the common room, she readily agreed to offering the spare bed in their dorm to Lily, the problem now was finding her. Fortunately, it wasn’t long until the portrait hole opened, and two red haired boys accompanied by their brown headed friend entered and the girls waved them over.

  “Hey Fabe, do you know where Lily is?” Marlene enquired when they had made themselves comfortable.

  “Why?” Doc was immediately defensive.

  “With Pat gone,  we have room and thought we’d ask her if she wanted to bunk in with us,” Emma explained.

  “Well I think she was going to get Remus to help her study for their History of Magic exam and he’s in here not in the library,” he pointed to where a group of four boys was sitting.  “So, we’re hoping she will be up shortly, otherwise we’ll go looking for her with you.”

  “Thanks, want to play chess while we wait?” he settled down beside her and they set up the board.

 

  Lily had looked everywhere for Remus, she just couldn’t decipher his History of Magic notes. He had obviously been suffering from the soporific effect of Binn’s lectures as his writing had progressively deteriorated. Sighing she decided she couldn’t put it off any longer; she would have to go to the Gryffindor common room to look for him. 

  “Que Sera,” she whispered to the Fat Lady.

  “It’s good to see you again, Lovely,” the Lady replied as her portrait swung forward. Lily clambered through the hole, and glanced around the room, spying Remus sitting with the Marauders she took a deep breath and gathered up her courage.

  “Hey Squirt.” Fabian grabbed her attention before she could reach her destination “There’s someone I want you to meet.” 

He dragged her back to where a group was gathered around a chess board. “This is Marlene McKinnon” he indicated the dark-haired girl at his feet, “And Sophie Figg,” a thin girl with short mousey blonde hair, “and Emma Brown,” a girl with long blonde curls. “They are in third year with me.”

  “Hi,” Lily smiled shyly and gave a small wave.

  “How are you Lily?” asked Marlene.

  “I’m ok, how are you?” Lily’s shyness was painfully obvious.

  “We’re good, but we wanted to know if you wanted to hang out with us?”

  “Oh, thanks but I really have to see Remus to do some study,” Lily politely declined. 

  “After that? We were thinking that there is a spare bed in our room and you could join us if you didn’t want to go back in with the second years.”

  “No pressure though,” Emma added, sensing Lily’s discomfort.

   “I.. I’m not sure, it is very kind of you to offer.”

  “Well how about you sit with us at breakfast tomorrow and get to know us a bit,” suggested Sophie.

  “We’ll be there too,” the boys offered. Lily agreed to that, thanked them and made her way over to Remus under the watchful eye of the third years, feeling slightly better about the wizarding world.

 

  Lily had forgotten how loud the Great Hall could be, it seemed that every single student was present at the same time that morning rather than the usual staggered appearances. The noise made her hesitate in the doorway.

  “Come on Squirt, don’t be shy.” Doc put his arm around her waist and pulled her into the room, leading her to the benches where the third years were sitting.,  erode she cou,d scurry away to the kitchen. Discussion flowed around her as she ate, her eyes resolutely on her food as she constantly checked it hadn’t been tampered with in anyway. Each bite was visually checked and smelt before being hesitantly put into her mouth. 

  “Did you get your study done last night Lil?” Marlene asked, not commenting as Lily sniffed her forkful of scrambled eggs.

  Lily jumped with a start at being addressed directly and the eggs fell off her fork.

  “Oh, um, yeah. What.. did you call me?”

  “Lil, is that alright? I give all my friends nick names. Emma is Em, and Sophie is Soph, Gid, Fabe, Doc, Benj,” her words came at Lily in rapid fire. Lily stared for a moment before macerating her eggs with her fork.

  “I’m not sure, only my Dad calls me Lil. Fabe calls me Squirt though if you want to use that.” Marlene laughed.

  “I’m not calling you any name that those smelly boys use.”

  “Cheers for that,” Doc laughed saluting her with his fork as he accepted the insult.

  “Oh and you can call me Marly. So how’s Lils?”

  “I guess that would be ok Marly, but just for us girls.” Lily couldn’t help but feel drawn to the gregarious girl.

  “So where are you from Lils?” Soph asked trying out the nickname.

  “Cokeworth, it’s about two hours Northwest of London.”

 

  As the girls got to know each other under the watchful eye of the Prewitt’s and Doc, four letters were being delivered further up the table.

  “Who wants to bet these are our parents’ replies to the letter from Dumbledore?” Sirius asked glancing at the other boys.

  “No bet there, it’s guaranteed,” replied James. The Marauders opened their letters and the next couple of minutes passed in silence.

  “Well I’m for it when we get home,” sighed James. “It doesn’t help that my Mum is friends with her Nan.”

  “Me too,” said Remus. “Dad thought she was ‘such a delightful and sweet girl’ when we met up in Diagon.”

  “What did yours say?” Peter asked, “Mum just said she was disappointed in me.”

  “I think the best line was- we will discuss the consequences of your actions when you get home.” James grimaced.

  “Mine’s much the same with an added- ‘with all that Dumbledore has done for you we expected better’,” groaned Remus.

  “Ouch playing the guilt card.”

  “Have you apologised yet James?”

  “No, I don’t know what to say, my parents will make me do it on the platform I’m sure.”

  “You’re being awfully quiet over there Sirius,” Peter observed “What does yours say?”

  Sirius drew a breath and read.

 Dear Sirius,

We were pleasantly surprised to receive the missive from Dumbledore and wish to offer you our congratulations. With any luck your next endeavour will have a more permanent outcome. As reward for your success we have decided to allow you to spend the latter half of the summer holidays with the Potters.

Orion Black.

  “What does-‘A more permanent outcome’- mean?” Peter asked.

  “They hope that next time they she leaves Hogwarts or worse,” hissed James. “Sirius, your family is…”

  “I know. You know just hearing that they approve of what we did, makes it seem a whole lot worse.”

  

  The exams passed by in a blur and it wasn’t long before the results were posted, and the students gathered in the Great Hall for the Leaving Feast.  Dumbledore had just finished giving his farewell speech when a series of pops sounded in the hall like a string of firecrackers had been lit. Each bang was accompanied by a student transforming into a bird and before long the whole hall was filled with the staff and most of the student body fluttering around. Professor Dumbledore smiled when Professor Slughorn turned into a Peacock, with particularly extravagant plumage and Professor McGonagall turned into a Macaw, he thought that the magnificent colouring suited her. Half an hour later another series of pops occurred as the students returned to their original states leaving a foot-high sea of multicoloured feathers on the floor. 

 Dumbledore stood “After that particularly enchanting piece of magic, I say, tuck in, though it might be wise to avoid the pumpkin juice!”

 

  “Lily!” a deep voice called as the girl made her way down the main staircase dragging her trunk behind her. She looked over to see the Headmaster standing to the side of the sea of students making their way to the carriages.

  “Professor.” With some difficulty she cut her way through the students towards him. 

  “Have you given anymore thought to returning next year?” 

  “I have, and I am unsure?” her brow furrowed.

  “What is worrying you?”

  “Would I have to return to the dorm with the other girls in my year? They don‘t…” she flailed to find the words t explain, Dumbledore held up his hand silencing her.

  “No, you could continue staying with the girls you have spent the last few days with, if you wish.” 

   “What do I do if I get attacked again?”

  “Do you not think advising one of the professors would be a good idea? The staff have been given strict guidelines to follow to prevent a re-occurrence,” he smiled at her. “And I believe you have some friends who will also be offering you a way to avoid such unfortunate occurrences in the future.”

  “I won’t promise yet, but I’ll considering coming back. I want to speak to my parents about everything,” she smiled shyly.

  “Good, I will hope to be seeing you again. We could not have Rose’s Great Niece leaving us behind. If you are returning I just ask that you notify us, and you will need to send a letter with which electives you wish to take next year to Professor McGonagall. As long as we receive it by the end of June it will make it in time for your book list to be sent out.”

  Lily nodded then said goodbye and followed the crowd to the platform.

  “Time to go home,” Severus sighed as they pulled their trunks into the second to last compartment.

  “Just remember to visit me when you need to.” Lily pulled out the book he had given her for her birthday and began to read.

  Halfway through the trip there was a knock on the door.

  “Squirt, I’ve been looking for you,” Fabian bounded inside like an excited puppy.

  Lily laughed “I’m not that stimulating. Surely you didn’t miss me that much!”

  “Well Doc and Gabe were picking on me, so I left,” he pouted, while Severus winced at the noise. Suddenly the door was yanked open.

“Get out of here Mudblood,” Avery and Nott stood in the doorway clearly expecting a repeat of the trip at Easter however they had not anticipated the extra person in the carriage. Fabian pulled out his wand and quickly hexed both boys and they fell over into the aisle. 

“Well who’s for exploding snap?” he said as he shut the door.

 

  With a shudder and a grunt, the Hogwarts express pulled up to the platform, the doors opened and the mass of students was released. Lily passed through the barrier and ran to where her Father and Mother were waiting. They hugged her tight.

  “When we got McGonagall’s letter we were so worried about you love. Don’t worry, we won’t make you go back if you don’t want to,” Mrs Evans said.

  “Ewan,” Mr Potter waved and made his way over with James in tow.

  “Monty,” Mr Evans nodded soberly at James’ father. The boy was trying to hide behind the older man.

  “I believe my son has something to say,” Monty said sternly as he reached back to grab James by his shoulder and push him forward. 

  “Lily.” James flushed. “I…I’m really sorry, I shouldn’t have picked on you the way that I did. I thought most of the things I did were funny and didn’t realise how much you got hurt. Please forgive me.” 

Lily peered from behind her father where she had hidden as they approached. She looked up and her green eyes met hazel.  James saw the pain and fear held in her green eyes, his stomach dropped, and he knew he could never be responsible for causing her so much anguish again. 

  She broke the gaze lowering her eyes to the ground as she muttered “Ok.”

  “I believe that there is a lot of work coming this young man’s way this summer and his broomstick will be confiscated. I apologise for the distress his actions have caused you as well Ewan, I am deeply sorry and swear that by the end of the summer he will have learnt his lesson,” Monty promised.

  Mr Evans’ accepted the apology and the Potter’s departed.

  Before the Evans’ could leave Lily felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Hey Lily.”

  “Fabe! Daddy, these are my friends Fabian and Gideon.”

  “How are you boys?” In light of recent events Mr Evans was sceptical of the newcomers. 

  “We’re good, but we wanted you to meet Molly. Mr Evans this is our sister Molly Prewitt.” A woman with the same red-hair as her brothers and holding a baby in one arm held out her free hand. Mr Evans shook it.

  “Ewan Evans,” he said gruffly.

  “Bill, climb down from there,” she scolded a small boy who was now climbing over Lily’s trunk.

  “The boys have come up with a plan to help your daughter,” she said. “Our Mum will be busy working this summer so the boys will spend most of the holidays at my house, and they were hoping that Lily could join them.”

  “You see Mr Evans,” Gideon said “Dumbledore..”

  “Professor Dumbledore,” Molly corrected, Gideon rolled his eyes.

  Professor Dumbledore agreed that we could teach Lily some spells to help her defend herself. Now there is a law that you can’t perform magic under the age of seventeen outside of school, however in a household where there is an of age witch or wizard, they can’t tell who is doing the spell, so…..”

  Molly took over again “So if she can come around to my place, they can teach her without anyone getting into trouble and” she paused to look sternly at the boys “I’ll be there to keep my eye on things.”

  “You would be there?” Mr Evans confirmed.

  “All the time,” she agreed. “With two boys of my own, I don’t get out much and I would love to have another girl to talk to occasionally.”

  “How would she get there?”

  “Are you connected to the floo?”

  “To the what?”

  “Muggles Molly!” Fabian laughed.

  “Right of course. I would come and pick her up, the boys could owl you with a time.”

  “Alright then, we’ll talk by owl.” With a plan in place Lily couldn’t help but feel that next year would be a whole lot better.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This has minor edits compared to the version on fan fiction. 
> 
> This was written for my daughter when she was 10 so that is the age group it is aimed at. 
> 
> Bullying is never to be condoned and if this is a trigger for you please do not read this piece. The third in the series will be able to be read without first reading this as there are only a few references.


End file.
